Pokemonk: Meeting of the Chosen Ones
by GeminiEarthDragon
Summary: The Pokemon Elements are dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. Like those of Wuya and her Team Rocket associate. Luckily, the Chosen Ones are here to save the world! …If they don't kill each other first.
1. Chapter 1

**Pokemonk- Meeting of the Chosen Ones**

The Pokemon Elements are dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. Like those of Wuya and her Team Rocket associate. Luckily, the Chosen Ones are here to save the world! …If they don't kill each other first.

**Pairings-** None (Friendship fic. Chances of that changing are slim. Really slim)

**Warnings-** Crossover, AU

**Meeting of the Chosen Ones (Pt 1)**

_Many mysteries exist in the world of Pokemon. _

_Indeed, the existence of pokemon itself is a mystery. Though humans have lived, worked and fought alongside pokemon for as long as anyone can recall, no one knows where they came from, or how their incredible powers work._

_Nonetheless, pokemon have become an intricate part of daily life, living among us as playmates, partners and guardians. Unfortunately, some humans desire to use the power of pokemon for their own, wicked ends. One such being was a woman named Wuya, master of Ghost Pokemon and practitioner of dark pokemon magic. _

_Greedy and black hearted, Wuya used every resource at her disposal to try and control pokemon and human alike and fashion herself as an evil, immortal empress using the power she collected from the pokemon elements, fashioned into gems that gave off enormous power. She would have succeeded too, had it not been for the efforts of the Pokemon Master Dashi. Dashi summoned the great Rayquaza to separate Wuya's body and soul and lock both away in separate locations, rendering the undying woman powerless._

_With Wuya defeated, all that was left to do was hide the Elemental Gems all over every region, to keep the mystical gems from ever falling into the wrong hands again._

_Years passed, and Wuya's terrifying powers became a distant memory. In five centuries, the woman who almost ruled the world was reduced to a footnote in the volumes of pokemon mythology, a figure many doubted ever existed at all. By then, there was a newer, more exciting mystery to focus on; four children with incredible powers and a deep connection to nature and pokemon whose arrival was foretold in many pokemon prophecies, known collectively as the Chosen Ones. Humans who were meant to protect humans and pokemon alike, and held the balance of peace in the palms of their hands._

_No one ever dreamed how these two legends would collide…_

* * *

Omi loved pokemon battles.

"Bellsprout! Use _Vine Whip_!"

Not out of some kind of cruel intent or sadism, but because there was a simplicity in battles that he couldn't help but love. It was refreshing and natural, like breathing in clean air.

"_Hypnosis_, Poliwag."

He was competitive and a perfectionist, everyone who really knew him knew that well. He did not like losing or even coming in second, especially at something he was good at.

Which was why he went on the offence the second his opponent's Bellsprout succumbed to the effect of his Poliwag's hypnosis.

"Bellsprout! Bellsprout, Get up!"

"Okay Poliwag, _Doubleslap_!"

His attack hit the defenseless pokemon dead on, ending with the Bellsprout smashing into his opponent's wall and falling to the ground, clearly incapable of taking even one more hit.

"Bellsprout is unable to battle!" The teacher called out loudly. "Omi and Poliwag win!"

"No way! That's not fair!" Omi's opponent griped as Omi recalled the school's Poliwag into its pokeball while the rest of the class groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Yeah well, what else is new?" A girl in the front row asked sourly. "None of us have ever been able to beat Omi Fung."

"Now now, students." The teacher admonished lightly, gripping Omi by the shoulders. "There's a lot you can learn about Pokemon from a genius like Omi here! You should be thrilled to have a friend and classmate who is so talented!"

The murderous looks Omi received from the rest of the class told him how 'thrilled' they really were with his presence there.

"And that concludes class for today. Remember, I want a four page report on one of the Eeveelutions on my desk tomorrow! And don't forget to study for Friday's test!" The teacher's cry went unheeded as the students hastily left the room for their next class. Sighing in defeat, the teacher turned back to Omi to give him a wry smile. "Honestly Omi, sometimes I wish those kids were a little more like you."

"Thank you, Honorable Teacher." Omi said respectfully, bowing to the older woman. The educator chuckled at the boy's show of respect.

"That's exactly what I mean." Patting the boy on the shoulder, the teacher added. "Excellent job today, Omi. I wouldn't think it was possible, but you seem to become more skilled each day!"

"Thank you, Teacher." Omi parroted again, eyeing the door as the teacher's next batch of students began to filter into the room. "If that's all you need me for…"

"Yes, yes, I understand." The teacher said, waving the boy out of the room. "But before you go to your next class, you should go see Professor Fung. He sent down a note asking for you once you were free, but you were battling at the time so I thought it best to wait."

"Professor Fung sent for me?" Omi asked, startled. It was rare for his guardian to call him in during class hours when he could easily speak to him when school let out.

"It didn't seem like anything was wrong, but you should still probably go see him." The teacher said quickly upon seeing the worried look that passed her prized student's face.

"I will do that, then." Omi said with another polite bow. "Thank you for your lesson, teacher. I will see you again tomorrow." And, before his teacher could say anything else, Omi quickly scurried out the door, intent on finding his guardian.

…At least, until he heard a voice griping loudly across the hall.

"That was so unfair! If he hadn't used that stupid _Hypnosis_ move, I would have had him! His win was just dumb luck! If that Omi Fung wasn't such a kiss up to the teachers-!"

"Pardon me, my fellow student." Omi couldn't help himself from interjecting, earning glares from the other boy and his friends. "Your statement earlier is not completely true. You see, even if _Hypnosis_ hadn't worked, I still could have-"

"Nobody asked you, geek!" The boy snapped, pushing past Omi to storm away and almost knocking the smaller boy over in the process. Face falling, Omi watched disheartened as the rest of his classmates followed their friend, without so much as a passing glance at their school's top student.

Omi didn't quite understand it, but for some reason none of the students at the school seemed to like him very much. Every time he tried to assist his classmates in improving their battling skills, they either brushed him off or treated him like dirt. Dojo had told him once that it had something to do with the fact that he was the best student in the school, and no one wanted to be around someone that made them look bad. That didn't make sense to Omi, but then again the things Dojo told him rarely did.

Sighing heavily, Omi straightened himself bad up from his near spill and started down the hall towards his Guardian's office, trying his best to look as if the encounter he'd just had didn't bother him as much as it really did.

Because secretly, the real reason he liked battle so much was because it was the only way he knew to communicate with others his own age that didn't end up hurting him.

* * *

"Professor Fung? You wanted to see me?"

Entering the spacious office that his guardian worked from, Omi looked around curiously for any signs of the aged professor who had summoned him, only to find an old Dragonite snoozing in the sunniest corner of the large room. Puzzled, Omi approached the pokemon to poke him until one eye opened irritably.

_{Easy there, kid!}_ The beast griped sourly. _{I might not be what I was back in my heyday, but I can still pull off a_ Hyperbeam _that'll blast that bald head of yours clear off it's shoulders, you know.}_

"Dojo, where's Professor Fung?" Omi asked, ignoring the Dragonite's threat. Despite what he may say, the truth of the matter was that Dojo _was _too old to use the kinds of attacks he used to be able to when he was younger and traveling with Dashi, his original pokemon trainer some five hundred years ago.

_{The lab, I think.}_ The Dragonite answered grouchily as he tried to get comfortable again. _{He's still getting everything ready for later.}_

"Later?" Omi repeated, blinking questioningly at the pokemon. "What's happening later?"

_{You'll find out soon, kid.}_ Dojo answered mysteriously as he turned back over to fall asleep again, leaving Omi to head towards Professor Fung's private lab with the distinct impression that he was missing something.

True to the elderly pokemon's words, Omi's guardian was indeed inside the lab, studying some kind of papers with a slight frown on his face. As soon as his student came into the room however, the man's electric blue eyes settled on them and he rose from his chair.

"Omi, there you are." He said as he stood. "I've been waiting for you."

"Yes, Professor Fung." Omi said, bowing to the distinguished pokemon professor. He could feel his tension melt when his guardian spoke. Professor Fung was the single wisest and most dependable figure that Omi had ever known in his life, and his admiration for the man was insurmountable. "Is there something you need me for?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Professor Fung said, filing his papers away for later and picking up a briefcase he had sitting on his desk. "Three of my outreach students are arriving today at the train station, and I'd like you to come with me to meet them."

"Outreach students are coming here?" Omi asked, surprised. Professor Fung taught many students via video phone lessons, but Omi had never heard of any being transferred to the Xiaolin Academy. For these three students to do so must have meant that they were something truly impressive.

Of course, there was no way that any of them could have anything on Omi. After all, he was the Chosen One; the pokemon trainer who protected the balance between good and evil, capable of many incredible feats. The most basic of which was, of course, his ability to speak to the pokemon he was connected with.

Still, maybe these ones would be different then the students that were already in school. Maybe these three wouldn't mind being friends with Omi rather then treating him like some kind of social leper. Hope rising in his chest, Omi hastily scurried after his guardian to meet the newest students of Xiaolin Academy, determined to make a good first impression.

* * *

"Man, what a dull town!"

Balancing precariously on the iron wrought fence that kept the passengers getting on and off the trains from falling three stories to their deaths, the brunette eyed the settlement below him critically, trying and failing to find anything remotely interesting about the sleepy town of Xiaolin.

Sighing heavily, the boy walked gracefully along the length of the fence with all the expertise of a professional tightrope walker. He's only just gotten off his train fifteen minutes ago, and he was already bored. It didn't help that he'd been traveling nonstop for the past eighteen hours either, first by ship to get from the Orange Islands to the Mainland, and then by train to Xiaolin. Thankfully, he'd eaten on the train, putting the tab on Professor Fung, but he was still aching to really stretch his legs, Pedrosa-style.

"What do you think you're doing up there?" Glancing down at the ground, the island boy watched bemused as the train station's security guard sputtered and stared at the sight of the youth balancing on top of the ten foot fence that was supposed to protect the passengers. "Are you trying to break your neck or something? Get down from there, kid!"

"Why should I?" The brunette asked tauntingly, easily twisting around to continue walking the length of the fence, this time backwards. He grinned wickedly as the security guard's face paled dramatically at his feat.

"Come on there, partner." A new voice broke in, prompting the island native to turn and appraise this newcomer, a large boy a few years older then him decked out as if he was heading to a hoedown. "There ain't no reason to make anybody's job harder then it has to be." Raising an eyebrow, the acrobat flashed the other boy a cocky smirk.

"Hey, he's the one freaking out about it." The boy said casually, "If either of you want me to get down, then you'll have to make me. Preferably without turning me into the world's best looking pancake." Then, to prove his point, the boy shifted his weight to waver dramatically, righting himself before gravity could take its toll. The security guard cried out in panic just as the young prankster expected him to do, which made the boy snicker richly in amusement.

At least until a lasso caught him by the ankle, and a sharp tug sent him tumbling towards the earth.

The security guard gave a rather high-pitched scream as the boy toppled off the fence, which the island boy probably would have died laughing at if he wasn't busy falling to his doom. Closing his eyes as the cement drew closer, the boy prepared himself for a messy, painful landing, only to feel the rope around his ankle go taunt. Surprised, the green-eyed boy looked up, finally noticing that the rope holding him mere inches above the ground was looped around the top of the fence, acting as a poor man's pulley. The boy's attention then turned to the older boy holding the other end of the rope, who gave him a rather devious grin before releasing his grip.

"Oof!" The darker boy grunted painfully as he smacked face-first into the cement. Groaning, the brunette peeled himself off of the ground, rubbing his face to check if he was bleeding anywhere.

"What was that for?" He howled indignantly at the larger boy, who gave a nonchalant shrug.

"You told me to get you down, remember?" The blonde reminded him with a rather smug looking smirk.

"_Without_ turning me into a pancake." The acrobat repeated crossly.

"Nah, you just said you'd prefer that." The cowboy pointed out cheerfully. "I reckon I don't have much of a problem one way or another, to be honest." Green eyes blinked for a moment as the other boy's words sank in, before an amused grin lit up his boyish face.

"Are you insane?" The until-then forgotten security guard shrieked furiously at the grounded brunette, who seemed surprised to see that he was still there. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have caused, young man? You're going to have to come with me right now to the security station, you little miscreant, this kind of behavior will NOT go unpunished!"

"Alright." The boy said agreeably, standing up and dusting his pants off.

"Don't give me… Wait, what?" The security guard gaped. He was expecting the boy to protest or run, given the attitude he had gotten from the kid earlier.

"Sure, let's go to the security station." The boy said cheerfully. "What do I care? It's not like I was vandalizing this place or anything. Heck, I wasn't even breaking any rules. I mean, I didn't see any signs or anything that said 'do no stand on fence.' So I didn't really do anything wrong. And to make things even better, you didn't even get me down from the fence. Lone Ranger over here did, remember? So imagine what all your buddies in the security station'll say when they find out that you got one upped by two kids in less then ten minutes." Grinning widely, the boy admired the brilliant shade of red that was gracing the security guard's face.

"Fine, you're off the hook this time, but don't let me catch you doing any more crazy stunts!" The guard snarled before stalking off. The acrobat snickered as he watched him go.

_Too easy…_

"I reckon you coulda gone a little easier on that man there, partner." The older boy spoke up, trying to sound disapproving despite the smile he was fighting. "He was only tryin' to do his job."

"Yeah, well he's not very good at it." The burnette smirked as he collapsed onto a bench. "Where'd you learn that rope trick, anyways? I know a couple of guys back in the circus who'd kill to know a stunt like that."

"Yeah? It comes in handy for wrestlin' down a Tauros when they start kickin' up a fight." The cowboy chuckled.

"Wow, so you're a real-deal cowboy? I thought you were just in that getup because you're more desperate for attention then I am." The acrobat confessed, earning a bark of laugher from the other boy.

"Nah, I grew up on a ranch just north of Pewter City. Quiet lil' place, but homey. You?"

"Born on the Orange Islands. But my family is all part of a traveling pokemon circus, so I've been pretty much everywhere you can imagine." The green eyed boy responded. Suddenly a thought struck the boy and he turned back to the blonde. "Wait, you said you're from Pewter? That's like, halfway across Kanto. What the heck are you doing way out in this sinkhole?"

"Same as the boy who came all the way from the Orange Islands, I reckon." The cowboy said, bemused. The green eyed boy's grin returned with a vengeance at that comment, and he held out a hand for the larger boy to shake.

"Raimundo Pedrosa." He introduced himself. Unable to resist, he then added. "Future greatest Flying-type user the world has ever seen. That's a bit long though, so you can call me Rai."

"Clay Bailey." The cowboy said in turn as he grasped the proffered hand. "Nice to finally meet a fellow Chosen One."

"Tell me about it." Rai snorted before grinning. "Clay, buddy, I think you and me are gonna be great friends…"

* * *

"I don't think this is allowed."

Glancing up at the disapproval in the young girl's voice, Habiki Sotomura gave his charge a rather confused frown.

"I'm sure it will be fine." He said airily, dismissing the blue-eyed girl's concerns. "Professor Fung will understand." One of the girl's eyebrow's twitched treacherously as she tried to reign in her explosive temper, hands fisting the pink ankle-length dress she was wearing as she slowly counted backwards from 100. Taking a deep, calming breath, the girl continued on in a firm tone that left no room for argument.

"You said that we were just going to see Papa before I took off." She reminded the man through gritted teeth. "I was supposed to come to Xiaolin by train, Habiki."

"Surely you don't think we'd risk your safety like that, Miss Kimiko!" Habiki said in a mortified tone. "Not to mention how dirty those things are! Really, Miss Kimiko, how could the heiress to Tohomiko Incorporated ever be seen on such low brow transportation!"

"That's no excuse to land a private jet in the middle of a town like this, Habiki!" Kimiko wailed, just about ready to tear her hair out in frustration… or Habiki's. That one sounded much more appealing.

"We're not staying long, Miss Kimiko." Habiki frowned. "Just until the Professor comes to pick you up."

"Fine then." Kimiko snapped, tapping a watch-like device in her wrist to activate a chibified hologram of herself.

"Good Morning, Kimiko!" The hologram chirped. "How may I assist you?"

"Call Xiaolin Academy, please." Kimiko ordered in an exasperated tone.

"Right away!" The hologram sang, blinking out of existence to be replaced with a screen that had the words 'Please Wait' scrolling leisurely across it. Moments later, the words vanished and a rather nervous looking man peered back a Kimiko.

"Miss Tohomiko!" the man exclaimed. "Well, this is certainly a surprise! What may I do for you, ma'am?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Director, but there's been a slight change in plans." Kimiko said, shooting her caretaker a withering glare. "Could you tell Professor Fung that I'm not going to be at the train station? He'll be able to pick me up just south-east of the Academy. Tell him to look for the big white jet with 'Tohomiko Private Air' written on it. Unless he's gone blind over the past few days, he shouldn't be able to miss it."

"What?" The director paled. "But the Professor and Omi have already left to pick you up!"

"Already?" Kimiko frowned. "Well, do you have his private number? I'll just message him or something instead."

"Professor Fung doesn't have a pokepal, or any form of mobile messaging, Miss Tohomiko." The director said, looking embarrassed. "He's not fond of using too much technology, I'm afraid."

"Of course." Kimiko said dryly. Sighing, Kimiko reached to unbuckle her seatbelt. "Well I'd better go, then. Sorry again to bother you." Tapping the pokepal again, Kimiko disconnected the call. Habiki watched in confusion as the girl stood up, grabbed her backpack, and headed for the door.

"Miss Kimiko? Where do you think you're going?" He asked, almost dreading the answer.

"The train station." Kimiko replied, opening the door and watching as an escalator descended to the ground. "That's where the Professor expects me to be, so that's where I have to go. And before you say anything, Habiki, you're not coming with me." Kimiko glared at her caretaker as he opened his mouth to respond. "You are going to get this flying scrap of metal out of here before Mr. Grivey gets in trouble for landing this thing in the middle of a town." They already had a crowd of curious and stunned onlookers approaching, and it wouldn't be long until the authorities showed up to see what the commotion was about.

"But you can't go wandering around a strange town alone!" Habiki cried out in dismay. "What if you get kidnapped again?"

"I'll be fine, Habiki. Besides, I'm not alone, remember?" Kimiko said, tapping the pokeball at her right hip pointedly. Before Habiki could think of anything else to say, Kimiko turned to the cockpit and called out. "I'm taking off, Mr. Grivey! Get Habiki back home to Papa before he has a mental breakdown or something, okay?"

"Understood, Ma'am." The pilot chuckled. "Good luck, Miss Kimiko, we're all rooting for you!"

"Thanks, Mr. Grivey!" Kimiko grinned before she stepped out into the escalator that hummed cheerfully as it lowered her to the ground. As soon as she cleared the doorway, Habiki immediately stuck his head out to shout down to her.

"Remember to call us every day, Miss Kimiko!" Habiki fretted. "And whatever you do, don't go near any place with the words 'Haunted,' 'Abandoned,' or 'Death' in it! And remember to wear your pokepal to sleep! And don't forget to do your meditations every morning! And-!"

"I got it, Habiki!" Kimiko yelled back, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Relax, everything's gonna be fine! I'll call you tonight, alright?"

"But Miss Kimiko-!" Ignoring her caretaker's protest, Kimiko took off like a rocket as soon as her feet touched the earth, breezing past the startled locals as she vanished out of sight down an alley. A wide grin spread across Kimiko's face as soon as the plane left her sights.

FREEDOM!

Giggling almost manically, Kimiko twirled around as she skipped out into an empty street. She was starting to think this day would never come! Tapping her pokepal, Kimiko barely gave the hologram enough time to flicker to life before she issues a command.

"Okay pokepal, I needed a change of clothes as of five minutes ago, so hook me up with Outfit 001 and Hairstyle 001!"

"Of course, Kimiko!" the hologram chirped. Moments later, a blinding while light enveloped the young heiress. When it faded, Kimiko's stuffy formal 'ojou-sama' type dress was gone, replaced with a red-and-black outfit that better suited the rough and tumble life of a pokemon trainer, her once free-flowing inky black hair now tied up into bouncy twin tails with matching red bands.

"Perfect!" Kimiko grinned. She had been a little worried that Habiki would find her hideaway closet and replace her clothes with 'something more suitable for a lady of her stature' but apparently all her efforts at reprogramming her Pokepal to better suit her needs were not in vain. Tapping the pokepal to turn it off, Kimiko's grin widened as she reached for the sphere at her hip. "Okay Venus, now it's just you and me!"

After being tossed into the air, the pokeball opened and, in a flash of red light, a small red reptilian creature emerged, smiling brightly at the blue eyed girl.

_{Kimi? Are we at the train station already?}_

"No, not yet." Kimiko sighed. "Habiki the Hardheaded strikes again. Apparently, trains are too dangerous, so he brought me here with Papa's private jet."

_{I see…}_ the charmander giggled. Truthfully, she'd been expecting something like this. Kimiko probably would have too, had she not been so giddy about finally being allowed to travel with children her own age, sans pushy servants and all the airs and false smiles that came attached to her title as heiress to the Tohomiko fortunes. _{So where is Mr. Sotomura now?}_

"Back with the plane." Kimiko answered with a devious grin. "No way am I letting that spoilsport ruin the master plan before it even gets underway!"

_{Do you really think you can keep the fact that you're an heiress secret from the other Chosen Ones, Kimi?}_ Venus asked as she followed her trainer, half in exasperation and half in amusement.

"Watch me." Kimiko said confidently as they found themselves on a more occupied street. Most of the people who were lingering on the well-traveled dirt road seemed to have had their interests piqued by the airplane that had landed a couple streets away. As the townsfolk gossiped amongst themselves, none of them even noticed the tiny girl that had joined their midst. Kimiko basked in the feeling of blending in for about ten seconds.

…Which was how long it took for someone to send her crashing painfully onto the small rocks and pebbles with a startled yelp.

_{Kimi! Are you alright?}_ Venus fussed over her fallen mistress as the boy who bowled into the small blue-eyed girl continued on his way.

"Come on guys, they have to be making it up! I mean, who would land an airplane in a dingy little town like—?"

"Hey! Watch where you're going you creep!" Kimiko snapped, rubbing her injured backside. Her temper flared up a bit more when she realized that she'd just gotten dirt all over her brand new clothes. The boy frowned irritably at her insult, shooting the girl a dirty look.

"Well then maybe you shouldn't be standing in the middle of the street like you've never seen a road before." The boy shot back. Venus backed away nervously as she literally felt the waves of anger coming off of the young heiress as Kimiko jumped back to her feet.

_{N-now now, Kimi, calm down! We have to go meet Professor Fung, remember? You can't waste time teaching rude backwater boys their manners.}_

"Aw, don't be so unfriendly there, Bryce, she's kinda cute…" One of the other boys snickered as he approached the fuming trainer. "Don't mind our friend back there. He's just mad 'cause he just got his butt kicked by the short bald wonderboy again. Tell you what, why don't I make it up to you by taking you out to lunch? It'll be my treat…"

"Pass." Kimiko said shortly. She was not in the moody to be hit on. "I got places to go. Come on Venus, let's get out of here…" the charmander was more then willing to listen to her trainer's command, and quickly scurried over to Kimiko's side. Unfortunately, this drew the boys' attention to the monster in question.

"Is that a charmander?" A third boy in the group asked in surprise as he leaned down to get a better look. His eyebrow arced at the sight of the heart-shaped necklace on the pokemon's neck, a gift from Kimiko for many years ago. "Wow, I can't believe you gave it such a girly accessory…"

"Excuse me?" Kimiko growled out. "I'll have you know Venus likes her necklace! She never takes it off!"

"She?" The boy who had been hitting on Kimiko repeated, startled. Females in the charmander line were pretty rare, after all, and most of them were used for breeding purposes to get a Charizard that could use cool egg moves.

"So that's your pokemon, then?" Bryce asked, a rather unfriendly grin passing his face. "_You're_ a _trainer_?"

"Yeah, so what? You got a problem with that?" Kimiko bristled defensively.

"Not at all." Bryce snickered as he pulled out the pokeball that the school had loaned to the boy when he left the grounds, for protection. "In fact, what would you say to a little pokemon battle?"

"I'd say bring it on!" Kimiko answered with a rather wicked grin of her own, not noticing when Venus groaned next to her.

_So much for meeting up with Professor Fung…_

"Poliwag, go!" Bryce commanded as he threw the pokeball to release the monster within. The boy was delighted at this turn of events, since he was still in a bad mood after his loss to Omi, and beating some scrawny little smart-mouthed trainer would be the perfect way to relieve some of his stress. Besides, Poliwag had the type advantage over a charmander, and since he'd already seen Omi use the pokemon earlier, he knew its moves well enough.

"Ready, Venus?" Kimiko asked her pokemon, who nodded in response.

_{Let's make this quick, okay Kimi? We've already wasted enough time as it is, and you know I'm not a fan of water…}_

"I'll ref!" one of Bryce's friends piped up, stepping forward to get a better view of the match. "We'll make this a one-on-one match with no time limit. Winner is decided when one of the trainer's pokemon is unable to battle. Trainers and Pokemon ready?"

"Born ready." Kimiko smirked confidently.

"Just get started already, Chester!" Bryce snapped, impatient which his friend's flare for the dramatics.

"Alright, alright! Sue a guy for having a little fun…" Chester rolled his eyes. "Go!"

"Poliwag, use _Water Gun_!" Bryce shouted as soon as the go ahead was given

"Venus, dodge and use _Smokescreen_!" Kimiko commanded, unconcerned. It was true that water moves were strong against fire-types, but she knew Venus was fast enough to avoid any straight on moves like _Water Gun_ or _Bubble_. Besides, this guy obviously wasn't very good with water pokemon, or else he would have started off with either _Water Sport_ or _Rain Dance_, which would have been much harder for Venus to escape.

_Better finish this before he wises up._ Kimiko mused as the Poliwag anxiously tried to see through the smoke to figure out where Venus was.

"Okay Venus, now use _Growl_!" She didn't much like evasive moves like _Growl_ or _Smokescreen_, but lowering the Poliwag's chances of attacking would help in the long run, in case any of those moves actually did manage to hit her pokemon. At her command, a low, dangerous sounding noise emerge from the smoke, turning the Poliwag into a terrified, shivering mess. Kimiko couldn't blame the poor thing, since the combination was probably like something out of a nightmare for the little water pokemon.

"Poliwag, don't listen! Just keep using _Water Gun_ into the smoke, you're bound to hit that Charmander sooner or later!" Bryce ordered. Shaken, the Poliwag obeyed, and Kimiko just barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Just keep using _Growl_, Venus." Kimiko ordered, not even bothering to add that the Charmander dodge the water attacks. Her pokemon wasn't stupid, and as Venus pointed out earlier, water was not an element she was particularly fond of.

The battle dragged on like that for a few minutes, with Venus growling dangerously and Poliwag futilely shooting water at the source of the noise, only to have Venus dodge before the attack could connect. Soon enough, the poor Poliwag's _Water Gun_ was a barely visible stream. Smirking, Kimiko decided it was time to up the ante.

"Okay Venus, _Scratch_!" Kimiko commanded. At that order, Venus immediately switched from defense to offense, leaping out of the smoke to claw at the shaken and surprised Poliwag, who rolled a good distance away before hitting the wall of a nearby store. "Use _Scratch_ again, Venus!"

"Dodge it, Poliwag, dodge!" Bryce ordered. Unfortunately the still shaken pokemon didn't respond in time, and took the brunt of another attack from the Charmander. Bryce was just about at the end of his rope when he remembered the move that Omi did him in with earlier that day and grinned wickedly. "Poliwag, use _Hypnosis_!"

_Hypno—? _Kimiko started. _Shoot!_

"Venus, dodge right, _now_!" The girl barked. Thankfully, the charmander obeyed the command before the hypnotic spell could take effect and leave her defenseless against the water pokemon. Bryce grinned at the urgency in Kimiko's voice. Clearly, he had turned this battle around.

"Poliwag, just keep using _Hypnosis_!" Bryce ordered loudly, his confidence returning.

"Hit the dirt, Venus, and cover your eyes!" Kimiko commanded. Both pokemon heeded their trainers, Venus dropping to the ground and adverting her gaze from her enemy while Poliwag unleashing another _Hypnosis_ attack.

Right into the mirror that Venus had unknowingly positioned herself right in front of.

The water pokemon gave it's reflection a surprised look for a moment, before slowly nodding off and hitting the ground.

"What?" Bryce sputtered, shocked at what had just taken place. Kimiko, on the other hand, breathed a quick sigh or relief. She had thought fast when she saw the mirror in the window of the nearby beauty store, but hadn't been completely sure that the move would work.

"Okay Venus, I think we're just about done. Finish things off with an _Ember_ attack, and then we'll be on our way." Kimiko ordered. Fire attacks normally didn't harm water pokemon that much, but the Poliwag was sleeping, and already severely hurt from those _Scratches_ Venus had used earlier, so it should've been okay. Sure enough, when the fire cleared Poliwag's eyes had the telltale swirl of defeat.

"Poliwag is unable to battle!" Chester decreed. "Charmander wins the match!"

"Great job, Venus!" Kimiko giggled as she gave her pokemon an affectionate hug when the fire type dutifully returned to her trainer's side. "You were fantastic out there, like always!" Inwardly, Kimiko was elated. It was true she won most of her mock pokemon battles back at home, but she'd always had the lingering suspicion that the local trainers let her win because of her father. This boy, though, had no idea she was the daughter of Toshiro Tohomiko, and she completely thrashed him!

"That fight was bogus!" Bryce snapped as he recalled his Poliwag. "Only a coward would hide behind moves like _Smokescreen_ and _Growl_! And if that mirror hadn't been there, I would have had you!"

"Aw, come on man, don't be such a sore loser!" The boy who had hit on Kimiko laughed lightly. "The girl whipped you, fair and square."

"Seriously Bryce, just let it go." Chester said as he approached his friend. "You had the type advantage. You just didn't use it right." Silently agreeing with the boy's friends, Kimiko turned and started on her way, only to find her path quickly blocked by the flirt from earlier.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this pokemon stuff, aren't you?" The boy said admirably, grinning widely. "So? What's your name?"

"Kimiko." The girl answered, rolling her eyes. She was in a better mood after the fight then she had been in earlier, but she still didn't have time to waste on a playboy.

"Kimiko?" the boy repeated, frowning thoughtfully to himself. Strange, but he felt like he'd heard that name somewhere before…

"Yes, and like I said earlier, I have to go." Kimiko said curtly, quickening her pace at the look the boy gave her after her introduction. She couldn't risk getting found out so soon, after all.

"Hey come, don't be like that! Look, if it's about Bryce—!"

"LOOK OUT!" Startled at the warning cry, Kimiko and the boys all whirled around, eyes widening when they saw an out of control cart filled with produce heading straight for the blue eyed girl at an insane speed. Giving a startled cry, Venus quickly grabbed her trainers leg and squeezed her eyes closed as Kimiko threw up her arms in front of her face in a futile attempt to protect herself from the impact—

—Which never took place.

A quick flash of light surrounded the young female trainer and her pokemon, and the two vanished before the cart could strike them. The man chasing the cart slowed to a stop as the witnesses of the impossible event merely stared in shock at the place the girl had been standing. No one noticed when the cart's mad decent was stopped when it crashed loudly into a store's wall. All they could wonder was the question that only Chester had enough voice left to ask…

"Where did she _go_?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2; Meeting of the Chosen Ones (Pt 2)**

"This totally bites!"

Grumbling to himself, the redhead unsteadily made his way further into the cave, following a glowing Magnemite as it lead the boy through the previously unexplored cavern that his boss suspected held some kind of special power. The young scientist had been ecstatic at finally being let out into the field, especially since he was a little worried about his place in the organization after the 'minor lab accidents' he may or may not have caused (Three fires and a chemical explosion in the past two weeks. Not to mention the ten test subjects that had escaped due to his carelessness. But hey, who was counting?). Still, an opportunity was an opportunity, and he wasn't the kind of guy to look a gift horse in the mouth, so naturally this led him to accept the job.

Which meant he was now about two hundred feet below the earth's surface and alone in a network of caves (Save for his trusty Magnemites and his precious Porygon, of course). So far, he'd nearly been buried alive four times under surprise landslides, and nearly killed a dozen times over thanks to booby traps which Jack highly suspected that 'unexplored caverns' shouldn't have. Now Jack was hopelessly lost, hungry, and dangerously close to hysteria at the creepy darkness that surrounded him. Not to mention his claustrophobia…

_Team Rocket better appreciate this._ Jack thought sullenly as he trudged forward. It was taking him longer then he had anticipated to rise through the ranks in the criminal organization, but that didn't deter Jack in the slightest. Soon, he would be the boss of the most powerful pokemon gang in the world, and nothing and nobody was gonna stop him!

…Nothing, that is, except a creepy cave that seemed to go on forever.

"Geeze! Any sign of an end to this mess yet, Bot1?" Jack huffed as he followed the Magnemite's glow. It was a good thing he'd taught Bot1 _Flash_ or else he'd never have been able to get out of this mess.

"Magnemite!" Came the cheerful reply. Frowning, Jack turned to face the Magnemite on his right, raising an eyebrow at the electric pokemon.

"Was that good?" He asked hopefully, visibly deflating when the pokemon gave a negative shake of its head (Which, since a Magnemite was _all_ head, really meant that it was really shaking its entire body) in response. "Perfect. Did Mom at least pack us anything to eat while we're down here? I'm starving!"

"Magnemite!" The pokemon sighed, using its magnets to lift a metal lunchbox out of its Master's backpack. Grinning, Jack happily accepted the lunchbox.

"Thanks, Bot2!" He said cheerfully as he bit into the sandwich his mother had made for him. "Bot3, remember to keep a lookout back there. I don't wanna run into another Loudred."

"M-Magnemite…" Jack heard whimpered from behind him as his third (But certainly not last) Magnemite spoke up.

Jack's parents didn't understand his obsession with the steel/electric pokemon, but he insisted on owning as many as possible. Bot1, Bot2 and Bot3 all went everywhere with him, but he had ten weaker Magnemites at home (most of which only knew _Tackle_, _Metal Sound_ and _Thundershock_), and many others tucked away in his family's numerous summer homes as well.

Jack couldn't help it, though. Magnemites were _cool_, and they appealed to the robot lover in the young teen in a way that no other pokemon could duplicate. His Porygon did come pretty close, but really Terabyte was more of an electronic pokemon then a robotic one.

"Magnemite! Magnemite!" Bot1 suddenly shouted out in excitement, drawing Jack from his thoughts.

"Bot1? What's up?" Jack asked curiously, following his pokemon as it eagerly motioned for him to continue along the path. Bot1 was his most energetic Magnemite, and its attention span was pretty dismal so Jack wasn't expecting anything much despite the pokemon's impatience. Maybe a cool rock formation or, if he was lucky, a place to mine evolution stones from, which he could report to his boss.

What Jack found, though, was completely unexpected.

"What the heck is this?" The young genius asked, gaping at the spot his Magnemite had led him to.

A large, shrine-like structure sat in front of the boy, featuring a stone Rayquaza wrapped around a pedestal that was covered in some dead language that Jack couldn't recognize. A strange power lingered in the room, old and powerful, sending a weird tingly feeling down Jack's spine, and the boy could only stare in wonder at the shrine, a foreign feeling entering his body as he could almost swear that the words carved into the statue started to glow. Slowly, as if in a trance, Jack approached the pedestal to see exactly what the stone Rayquaza was snarling down at, blinking in surprise at what he found.

"…A puzzle box?" He said quizzically, lifting the object from it's resting place and blowing what must have been over a century's worth of dust off of the thing. What would a puzzle box be doing in an unexplored cave?

Unless…

"This must be what the bosses wanted me to find!" Jack realized with an excited grin. "I bet there's a super rare pokemon locked away in here! Maybe even a Mew!" Elated at the prospect of finding such a rare and powerful pokemon, Jack quickly began to tinker with the puzzle box as all three of his Magnemites watched on curiously. In a matter of minutes, Jack let out a triumphant yell as he slid the final piece into its place, unlocking the box with a satisfying 'click!' Grinning to himself from ear-to-ear, the redhead eagerly reached for the lid, already imagining the rare pokemon inside.

Only to feel the world crash down around him once he laid eyes on his 'treasure.'

"Are you kidding me?" Jack wailed, enraged at his find. "A mask? I went through booby traps, angry cave pokemon and the worst case of claustrophobia I ever had for a freakin' _mask_?" Fuming, Jack tossed the puzzle box— mask and all— over his shoulder, where it smacked against the stone Rayquaza and fell to the floor of the cave with a loud clatter.

With his back turned to the box, Jack didn't see the mask rise slowly into the air, surrounded by a lavender energy. Nor did he notice the sudden panic of his Magnemites as the mask focused its eyes on the oblivious teen as he vented to his pokemon, its mouth twisting into an evil smile.

"Great! What a complete and total waste of time! You know, I'm starting to think that the only reason the boss sent me down here in the first place was because he doesn't like me. I can't wait until I run Team Rocket, then he and all those other idiots will finally give me the respect I deserve! When I'm in charge, no one will dare question the genius of Jack Spicer!" Hearing the boy's rant, the floating apparition gave a low chuckle, making Jack freeze. He knew that sound didn't come from him or his Magnemites, supposedly the only living creatures in the cave. Slowly, with great caution, the young scientist turned to face the floating mask, only inches from his nose.

"_Ambitious, aren't you my boy?"_ the apparition purred.

Jack let out a high pitched scream in response.

"Bot1, Bot2, Bot3, attack! Use _Thunderbolt_!" Jack ordered shrilly. The Magnemites complied almost instantly, sending jolts of electricity at their bizarre target, who didn't so much as flinch as the attacks passed harmlessly through her form. Jack's fright warred with his curiosity for a moment as he took refuge behind his Magnemites, before finally the scientist in the boy took full charge. "What are you, some kind of weird new pokemon or something?" Jack questioned with a sort of morbid curiosity.

"_Of course not!"_ The ghost-lady scoffed. _"I am Wuya, the Immortal Pokemon Witch and Mistress of Ghost Pokemon!"_

"Wu…ya?" Jack repeated slowly, his eyebrows drawing together as he wracked his brain for where he'd heard that name before.

"_I was merely moments away from ruling the world, before that simpering fool Dashi got in my way, leaving me here to rot for centuries."_ A bitter note ended Wuya's self-introduction, which Jack took no notice of as the source of the name finally clicked in his head.

"Wait, you're _that_ Wuya? The one who commanded armies of ghost pokemon to do your evil bidding and even possessed all four Legendary Golems? AND a Giratina?"

"_The very same." _Wuya said smugly, pleased that the boy had heard of her. _"But enough about me. Tell me, my boy, what do you know of the Elemental Gems…?"_

* * *

"Really?" Omi exclaimed, his face practically glowing with joy. "You truly mean that, Professor Fung? I am really being allowed to travel outside of Xiaolin Academy? With my own Pokemon?"

"That's right, Omi." Professor Fung said calmly, smiling to himself at the boy's visible excitement. "It has been ten years since you came to Xiaolin Academy as an infant, and our school has taught you all that it can. The time has come, young one, for you to journey into the outside world. As a Chosen One, much will be expected from you, and there will be many things that you encounter that most normal trainers would never dream of seeing. It is a difficult road ahead of you, child, and I can only hope that you are prepared."

"YES!" Omi shouted, jumping out of his seat in the cab and pumping his fist. Catching himself, Omi blushed and tried to reign in his elation. "…I mean, thank you for this opportunity to travel on my own, Professor. I understand your worries, and will work hard not to dishonor the Xiaolin Academy."

"'Travel on your own,' Omi?" Professor Fung repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Far from it. In fact, that is precisely why we're going to meet these three outreach students right now. They will accompany you on your journey, providing support for you wherever they can." Omi's smile fell a bit at the thought of having three strangers following him on his great and noble quest.

"The outreach students?" Omi clarified skeptically. "Forgive me, Professor, but I do not believe I shall need their assistance. After all, I am the Chosen One. How could three ordinary trainers hope to assist someone as great as myself?"

"Things are not always as they appear, Omi." The Professor reminded his student gravely. "Besides, I believe you should reserve judgment until you have met these three for yourself. They might surprise you, after all."

"Yes, I suppose you are right about that." Omi hummed thoughtfully. "After all, what is the point of doing great deeds if no one else is there to witness them? I am confident that my new friends will marvel at my greatness!" Seeing that the boy had missed his point entirely, Professor Fung sighed in defeat, shaking his head as he tried to figure out the best way to banish his student's misconceptions.

"Here we are Professor Fung, the Xiaolin Train Station!" The cab driver chirped up before Professor Fung could further explain things to his charge. Squealing in delight, Omi threw open his cab door and shot up the steps faster then should have been humanly possible. Professor Fung sighed as he exited the cab at a much more subdued pace, watching the boy go with an unreadable look on his face. He didn't so much as bat an eye when one of the pokeballs at his waist suddenly let loose a flare of light, forming into a large dragon pokemon.

"Dojo, you know better then to let yourself out of your pokeball." The professor said with only a token disapproval to the elderly Dragonite.

Dojo merely scoffed in response, giving the professor an exaggerated eye roll. Though the professor couldn't speak the pokemon's language like his young charge, it was quite obvious that the dragon was thinking something along the lines of _'Yeah, yeah! You told me that a thousand times! You should know by now I won't listen.'_

Professor Fung smiled despite himself at his pokemon's actions as he paid the cab driver. Truthfully, he did know the old pokemon well enough not to be surprised by his actions anymore. Dojo was his oldest and most trusted companion, after all. They'd been together ever since Fung found the aged Dragonite while exploring a mountain in his youth, before he was even old enough to become a pokemon trainer.

Dojo was aged even then, and lonely after the passing of his first pokemon master, the great Dashi himself. Eventually though, the two became good friends and Dojo opted to join Fung when he started his pokemon journey. The old Dragonite wasn't much in terms of fighting even back then, but he was sharp and intelligent, and excellent company to boot.

"I suppose you're out here to offer me some form of comfort." The Professor mused, giving his pokemon a knowing look. He had no doubt that Dojo was well aware of his unease at the thought of letting his four favorite students involve themselves in such dangerous affairs. He knew each of them were brilliant and talented trainers, but the peril they would face would be like nothing the average trainer ever had to put themselves through, and despite himself Professor Fung couldn't help but feel anxious about the coming departure.

In response to the old man's question, Dojo tried his best to look nonchalant. Professor Fung could almost hear the dragon saying; _'Who me? Nah, I just wanted to get some fresh air!'_ then, the pokemon slanted a gentle, knowing look down at the human, as if to add. _'Besides, you know that it's time for them to go, without me saying anything about it. They're still a bunch of diamonds in the rough, but they're good kids, and they'll do just fine.'_ An eye roll. _'And anyways, I'm sure the brats'll be calling you every couple of hours out on the road.'_

"True…" The professor chuckled affectionately, smiling up the stairs where he knew his four favorite students were waiting anxiously for his arrival. Surprisingly, his 'talk' with Dojo did make him feel better, and he found himself starting up them with his reservations gone.

It was time for their legend to truly begin.

* * *

"Okay, now I know you're just messing with me."

"It's true! We do it all the time back in Pewter, and I'm the reigning Champ!"

"You seriously expect me to believe you can beat a Graveler in a Wresting Contest?" Raimundo asked incredulously. "Those things weigh, like, a million pounds!"

"Actually, they usually only get a little above two-thirty." Clay informed the gaping boy with a chuckle. "That ain't so bad, compared to other rock pokemon. Golems are over six hundred, y'know." Rai gave a low whistle at that.

"I had no idea." He admitted, looking thoughtful. "We don't see too many wild rock pokemon out in the islands. Too much water and stuff. Out there, it's mostly water or flying types."

"That why you're so fond of flyin' types?" Clay asked curiously. In the last twenty minutes they'd been talking, Raimundo had really impressed him with his knowledge of flying-type pokemon and moves.

"Yeah. Got my butt saved by a Pidgeot when I was a kid. I was messing around on the beach and accidentally ticked off some Tentacruel. I thought I was a goner, but all of a sudden this wild Pidgeot came in with a Sky Attack and totally took them out in one swoop! It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. After that, I started getting close to all the flying-types they kept in the circus. I even got my big brother to let me ride on his Charizard a couple times. That's why I figured I'd start with a charmander, since they're the only starter to evolve into a flying type."

"Makes sense." Clay nodded. "I figured I'd go with a Bulbasaur myself. I don't know the first thing about fire or water pokemon, but I've wandered through the forests around Pewter enough times to get to know grass types pretty well. 'Sides, I can talk to them, and that tends to help."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Raimundo agreed with a chuckle. "Unfortunately, I got stuck with all the testiest types out there. Especially Poison-types, those guys get nasty when they're mad!"

"This have anything to do with those Tentacruel that attacked you when you were a kid?" Clay asked, bemused as the sour face Raimundo made at his question.

"So, when do you think Fung will get here with the other two Dragons, anyways?" Raimundo asked in lieu of answering the cowboy. "I can't wait until we hit the road. This town's so dull, it's driving me nuts!"

"Well, what do you expect, partner?" Clay asked, fighting a smile. "Little towns like this don't like all the fast pace action you find in the cities. Besides, I imagine things'll get plenty excitin' soon enough."

"Oh yeah?" Raimundo scoffed. "Like when?"

Before Clay had a chance to respond, a bright flash of light drew his and Raimundo's attention upwards with identical looks of surprise on their faces. The looks only became more pronounced when the light faded and left a girl hovering in midair for about three seconds before-

"KYAAAAAAAH!" The girl shrieked as she began to plummet towards the earth snapped the boys out of their shock, replacing it with panic. Cursing, Raimundo quickly reached for something in his backpack, only to find that it wasn't necessary as Clay shot forward to catch the fallen girl before she could hit the cement.

"Y'alright there, little lady?" Clay asked the dazed girl in concern, frowning at her pale face in bewilderment. His confusion only increased when he noticed the Charmander she had in her arms, which was even more out of it then the girl was.

"Fine." The girl grunted, though it was clearly a lie. "Urg, I hate that feeling… I think I'm gonna be sick…" Clay flinched when the girl said that, hastily (but gently) depositing her on a nearby bench before making his retreat (he never did well with people throwing up around him…).

"Ya sure yer alright?" He asked again, confusion and concern warring with one another as the girl slowly collected her bearings.

"Depends." The girl asked, a note of dread entering her tone. "Where exactly am I right now?" Clay blinked at the question.

"Uh… You're in a town called Xiaolin, at their train station." Clay answered her, glancing at Raimundo to see him looking just as confused as Clay felt.

"Really?" The girl seemed pleasantly surprised by Clay's answer. "Well, that saved time now, didn't it?" Happily, the girl turned to her Charmander, only to flinch when she saw the state that the poor pokemon was in. "Oh wow, it really did you in this time, huh Venus? Better rest for a while." And with that decree, the girl pulled out a pokeball and recalled the Charmander.

"You…" Raimundo said, struggling to find his voice. "…You just fell out of the sky!"

"Yeah, that happens sometimes." The girl sighed irritably, either not noticing or ignoring Raimundo's sputtering as he tried to figure out what was going on. Turning to Clay, the girl added. "By the way, thanks for catching me. Made the landing a lot more pleasant then it usually is."

"Uh, no problem…" Clay said as graciously as he could through his confusion.

"Think you can tell us why you just fell out of the sky?" Raimundo asked the girl, irritated that she kept trying to dodge around explaining that to them.

"Um, think we can all just agree that it was a weird freak experience and move on from there?" the girl asked with a large, overly sweet smile. Raimundo merely snorted in response. Did she really think he was gonna buy that? That was the same sort of stuff he pulled whenever-!

The island boy's eyes widened as a light bulb clicked over his head. _Oh…!_

"You're one of us!" He realized triumphantly. Clay and the girl both shot him bewildered looked for a moment after that proclamation. Clay's confusion quickly cleared up, as Raimundo's words sank in, but the girl just looked more lost.

"What?" She said, looking at Clay for some kind of clarification.

"He means to say that yer another Chosen One, little missy." Clay complied to her silent request, smiling at the girl's startled look.

"Another… Oh!" The girl blinked before smiling brightly. "Well, that makes things easier. I thought I'd have to distract you guys then make a break for it or something."

"Yeah, it's always a pain when someone catches me using my powers." Raimundo agreed whole-heartedly. "I can't wait until Fung finally lets us go public with them."

"So what was that trick you just pulled right now, anyways?" Clay asked curiously.

"An unfortunate side effect of being affiliated with psychic-types." The girl answered with a grimace.

"You got psychic?" Raimundo asked, shooting the girl a sulky look as she nodded. "Lucky. Bet that comes with all sorts of cool perks."

"Less then you'd imagine." The girl groused, rolling her eyes. "It's been nothing but a total pain, ever since I can remember. And the headaches-!" Whatever else the girl meant to say was cut off the device strapped to her wrist suddenly flashed to life.

"Incoming Call from Keiko! Incoming Call from Keiko! Incoming-!"

"Is that a Pokepal?" Clay asked, eyes widening at the sight of the watch-like device.

"Yeah. Hang on, I gotta take this. Keiko will keep calling until I do." Kimiko sighed, rolling her eyes at her friend's stubbornness as she fished a headset out of her backpack for the sake of privacy, stepping away so that the boys couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation.

"I ain't ever seen one of those Pokepals before, 'cept in magazine ads." Clay said thoughtfully to his companion as they continued to watch the girl. "My sister's been tryin' to talk my pa into buying her one for ages, though."

"Good luck with that." Raimundo scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Those things cost an arm and a leg. Especially a custom one like hers."

"Custom?" Clay repeated, puzzled. "How can ya tell?"

"It's got her initials on it, instead of the Tohomiko Inc. Logo. Besides, it remembers the names of repeat callers, and tells you who they are before you pick up. That kinda AI upgrade costs a fortune, and it's only available for the most recent Pokepals."

"Y'all know a lot about Pokepals, don't cha?" Clay said, impressed at the brunette's knowledge.

"I tried to hack the company once to get myself a free one." Raimundo explained, unabashed. "The security was too tight, though. But I did see a lot of cool little things they were working on adding to them."

"…That's… uh… great, I guess…" Clay responded slowly, taken aback by how easily the boy admitted to something that was more then likely a felon. Then again, considering his earlier actions, Clay supposed that he really shouldn't be _that_ surprised. Before he could comment on the other boy's near criminal behavior though, a quick tug on his sleeve had the cowboy looking down at a much, MUCH smaller child, who had a face that was set into a surprisingly serious expression, although he did seem to be just about bursting with eagerness, if the way his eyes darted to and fro was any indication.

"Pardon my intrusion, stranger." The boy-child said politely with a bow. "I do not mean to interrupt your conversation, but I happen to be looking for three outreach students of the prestigious Xiaolin Academy. Would you happen to know where they could possibly be?" Blinking down at the boy, Clay took a moment to study the formal blue button down jacket that the child was wearing over navy slacks, with a matching newsboy cap. Quickly realizing who the boy much have been, the blonde shot his dark skinned companion an amused look, triggering Raimundo to snicker in silent agreement. Before Clay could correct the child though, a new voice broke in.

"Those are the outreach students, Omi." Professor Fung explained to the boy patiently as he emerged from the stairway, causing all four of his students to straighten up subconsciously.

"Eh?" Omi gaped, looking over the three youths in from of him with a critical eye. "These three…?" Studying the burley cowboy, the smirking islander and the dark-haired girl still chattering away on her Pokepal for a moment, Omi turned to his guardian with a puzzled frown and stage-whispered, "Professor Fung, surely you must be pulling my ear. For these three to be outreach students…"

"It's 'pulling your leg,' Omi, and I'm doing no such thing." The professor stated firmly, frowning at the boy in a way that made him shrink back meekly. "These three _are_ outreach students of Xiaolin Academy, and starting today, they will be your new traveling companions as you make your way out into the world."

"S'right, shrimp!" Raimundo snickered, snagging the boy's hat away to reveal the child's bald yellow head. Omi yelped in protest and moved to snatch the hat back, but the island boy outmaneuvered the smaller boy with his acrobatics. "Raimundo Pedrosa, at your service!"

"If- You- Would- PLEASE!" Omi grunted out, finally managing to snatch his hat back from the bemused brunette. Panting slightly, the smaller boy replaced his headgear, an indignant air around him at what he'd just suffered through.

"Clay Bailey. Nice to meetcha, partner." Clay said, tipping his hat at the younger trainer.

"And I'm Kimiko." The girl broke in, tucking her earpiece into a pocket as she rejoined the conversation, flashing the boys an apologetic grin. "Sorry about that. Keiko can be a bit stubborn sometimes, and she wasn't exactly happy about me leaving…"

"Yes… well then!" Regaining his composure, the bald child gave the other three a low bow. "It is an honor to meet three outreach students of Xiaolin Academy (even if you are nothing like what I was expecting). My name is Omi, the number one ranked student trainer of Xiaolin Academy. I am sure that you have heard much of my impressive achievements?" The three outreach students blinked awkwardly at the smallest boy's bright eyed gaze, exchanging nervous glances at Omi's question.

"Uhhh…" Clay said slowly, trying to think of a way to let the boy down easy.

"We outreach students don't get to hear as much about what happens on campus, actually." Kimiko explained to the boy, making him visibly deflate. Seeing this, Kimiko flinched and quickly added. "But I'm sure you're really, really great, Omi!"

"Indeed!" Omi responded, perking up so fast that the other three would have missed it if they blinked. "Why, the mere mention of my name inspires awe in all who are familiar with Xiaolin Academy!"

"Okay seriously, what's with this kid?" Raimundo deadpanned to Professor Fung, flicking a thumb at Omi over his shoulder. "If his head were any more inflated, we could use it as a hot air balloon."

"MY HEAD IS NOT A HOT AIR BALLOON!" Omi shouted back, glowering at the taller boy for mocking him as Kimiko desperately bit back her giggles and Clay shook his head with a forlorn sigh.

"You sure about that, baldy?" Raimundo snickered, grinning widely as the boy's face went scarlet. The islander was pretty sure he saw smoke coming out of the smaller boy's ears, too…

"If you two are finished?" Professor Fung interjected smoothly in a calm tone, which belied the underlying threat in his expression that told the two that continuing their spat would incur his wrath.

As one, both Raimundo and Omi obediently quieted down.

"Good." The professor nodded, motioning for the three to sit down on the bench Kimiko had occupied earlier. The three youths immediately sat down, not wanting to test the old man any further. "Raimundo, Clay, Kimiko, I trust you three have read and come to understand the letter I sent to your households when I requested your presence here?"

"Yes, Professor Fung." Kimiko said respectfully, pulling the letter in question out of her bag and Clay and Raimundo dug similar notices out of their pockets. The Professor gave a satisfied nod at the sight of them, before turning back to the point at hand.

"Then I believe that you four know what is to be expected of you." he said, unlocking the briefcase he'd brought along with him. "After all, things are going to be quite difficult for you on your journeys. From this point on, you will have to sacrifice much for the greater good. This is not a game, or a free ride to fame. As I stated in my letter, there will be lives in your hands, risks that you'll be forced to take, and hard choices with no easy outcomes. If any one of you feel that this kind of pressure may be too much to handle, It's not too late for you to turn back."

"And miss out on the excitement? Are you kidding!" Raimundo said, flashing the old man a cocky grin. It disappeared with a grunt of pain though, when the small female next to him elbowed him in chastisement.

"What he _means_ to say is that we'll be fine, Professor Fung." Kimiko said smoothly, ignoring the surly look the abused boy shot her for her rough treatment. "We've been prepared for the risks for a while now, and there's no way we're turning back now."

"And of course, I'll be there to protect them should anything bad occur!" Omi boasted cheerfully.

"I'm counting on that, Omi." The professor smiled as the smallest trainer swelled with pride. "I expect all of you to watch out for one another on your journey. After all, your friendship shall be your most powerful weapon against anything that may stand in your way."

_God, that's so cheesy. _Raimundo thought with a snicker, glancing at the others to see their reactions to the old man's speech. Clay had a patient, good-natured smile on his face, which Rai was starting to suspect was his default expression for every situation. Kimiko was smiling as well, but hers looked a little more pained, like she was forcing herself not to wince at the cliché lecture they were being fed. Omi, on the other hand was drinking up every word the Professor said, a look of reverence on his face that Rai couldn't help but roll his eyes at. _Great. A goody-goody. He's gonna be SUCH a drag to travel with._ Sighing, Raimundo comforted himself with the thought that at least the gullible dope would be perfect prank material.

"With that said, I believe I've held you children up long enough. No doubt, you are eager to be on your way, after all." Smiling pointedly at the four in a way that made Raimundo suspect that the old man knew exactly what each of them were thinking, Professor Fung opened his briefcase and turned it so that the four new trainers could see it's contents.

Fung's smile brightened in mirth as all four children visibly perked up at the sight of the pokeballs and four pokedexes he was transporting, the eagerness he'd mentioned previously now shining on all of their faces.

"These pokemon have been specially raised to accompany you during your journeys. They are your partners, and are to be treated in a way that reflects that." Glancing at the only girl among the group, Fung added. "Kimiko, I'm sure you can understand this already, given that you have been raising the charmander you chose for your partner from an egg."

"Of course, Professor Fung." Kimiko said, beaming as she hugged her pokemon's pokeball to her chest. "Venus and I are a team, and we trust each other completely!" Fung gave the girl a smile of approval at her statement as he handed her the red pokedex, ignoring the way Omi and Raimundo grumbled about the unfairness of the girl getting her pokemon first.

"Omi." Starting, the smallest trainer snapped to attention as the Professor turned his attention to him, swallowing the rest of his complaints over Kimiko's special treatment.

"Yes, Professor?" The boy said eagerly, stepping forward. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as his mentor selected one of the pokeballs, handing it to the small trainer along with a blue pokedex.

"This Squirtle was chosen to be your first pokemon. The breeder warned me that he can be quite a handful, but I believe he's the perfect partner for you, given your battle style."

"Of course, professor!" Omi exclaimed, cradling the pokeball with a smile that threatened to split his face into two. Finally! His first pokemon! Omi couldn't WAIT to talk to it!

"Clay."

"Yessir, Professor?" Clay said as he lumbered forward to take yet another pokeball, this one partnered with a yellow pokedex.

"This is your Bulbasaur." Fung explained as the largest youth studied the ball curiously. "She's quite a capable leader, from what I've heard. I'm sure she will be of great assistance to you on your journey."

"I'll be sure ta treat the lil' lady with respect then, Professor." Clay promised with a tip of his hat, stepping away as the Professor turned to retrieve the last items in the briefcase.

"Raimundo." The last syllable of the boy's name had barely left the Professor's lips when the island boy suddenly materialized at the old man's side, snatching the pokeball and green pokedex out of Fung's hands before he had the chance to say a word.

"Sweet! My first pokemon!" Raimundo said gleefully, stuffing the pokedex in his back pocket as he tossed the ball up in the air a couple of times before enlarging it. "Lemme guess, a charmander, right?" Without waiting for the professor to respond, Raimundo released the pokemon with a beam of red light, grinning as the creature began to form in front of him.

And then promptly dropping the pokeball in shock, gaping at the pokemon with a slack jawed expression the other three beginning trainers shared as the wayward pokeball rolled to a stop at Professor Fung's feet.

"No, actually." The Professor said calmly as he retrieved the fallen pokeball, ignoring his students' shock. "Since Kimiko already has a charmander, we felt that a different pokemon was necessary in order to keep the team balanced."

"Oh no freaking _way_!" Kimiko gasped, leaning forward for a better look at Raimundo's pokemon as it studied the group with open curiosity. "A Dratini? Seriously? Way cool!" Clay gave a low whistle in agreement to Kimiko's exclamation as the tiny dragon pokemon floated closer to inspect them.

"Where did ya find it, professor?" Clay asked curiously. "I ain't ever seen a Dratini before, 'cept in books or on TV."

"Dojo pulled a few strings for me." Fung explained as he handed the pokeball back to Raimundo, who was only just starting to come out of his shock. "He's quite well known among Dragon pokemon, and when he heard that we were having difficulty with finding a suitable pokemon for Raimundo, he brought this young one to us. Apparently, he has quite the fascination with humans, which was why he volunteered to join the group." Seeing the gleeful grin that was forming on Raimundo's face, the Professor gave the boy a stern frown. "Keep in mind, Raimundo, that this child is still quite young, and inexperienced in battle. It only knows Wrap, Leer and Thunder Wave, so you'll probably be at a disadvantage compared to the others."

"Who cares?" Raimundo snorted. "It's a freakin' Dratini! As my first pokemon, too! Oh man, I can't wait to tell my brothers and sister back home about this, they're totally gonna go green with envy when they find out!"

"Um… I don't think they're the only ones…" Kimiko whispered to Clay, motioning to the rapidly darkening face that Omi was making. "The bald kid's not gonna let this go without a fight."

"Professor Fung!" The small trainer objected, just as Kimiko predicted. "This is most unfair! Why should a mediocre trainer like him get such a rare pokemon rather then me, the highest ranked student at Xiaolin Academy? I am the Chosen One, destined to protect the world from evil! He is merely here to assist me!"

"Actually Omi, all four of you are the Chosen Ones." Professor Fung explained to the boy in a patient tone. "The ability to understand the words of pokemon, and to even channel the same power that the pokemon you are connected with do; You, Omi, with your affiliation with Water, Fighting, Ice and Water pokemon. Clay here, connected with Rock, Ground, Grass and Normal types. Kimiko, who has Fire, Psychic, Electric and Steel, and Raimundo, with Flying, Poison, Dark and Ghost types." Turning to address the others, the Professor continued his explanation.

"Because of your unique situation, the Pokemon Counsel felt it would be safest for the four of you to travel together at the start of your journey, at least until you've built up respectable teams. They also felt that each of you should be assigned a pokemon you could communicate with, to ease the transition. However, Raimundo's types aren't offered among the starter pokemon, and the Counsel felt that giving him a Bulbasaur like Clay, or a Charmander like Kimiko would upset the balance of the team. Therefore we received special permission to give Raimundo a newly hatched Dratini, to act as a mediator for all four of you since Dragon type is the only one all of you share an affiliation with."

"Ah, so that's what this lil' fella's about." Clay chuckled as he scratched the dragon pokemon under the chin.

_{Food?}_ the young pokemon questioned hopefully, earning a slight giggle from Kimiko, who immediately dug through her bag to offer the pokemon a treat.

"Will this do? I buy them for Venus, since she's addicted to them. They're a bit dry, though…" The Dratini, it turned out, didn't mind this at all, if the excited squeal he gave as he gobbled up the proffered snack was anything to go by. Laughing to herself as Raimundo snagged his energetic young pokemon before it could steal into her bag looking for more of the treats, Kimiko flashed an exasperated grin at Omi, which quickly turned into a look of surprise when she realized that the young trainer appeared to have gone into shock sometime after the Professor had revealed that the other three were his fellow Chosen Ones.

"Y'alright there, lil' partner?" Clay asked in concern when he saw this as well, taking a tentative step towards the smaller boy. Seconds after the cowboy had posed the question, Omi gave a soft groan, fainting to the ground with a solid 'thunk!' as the others stared at their fallen comrade in surprise. "Uh… I think we can take that as a 'no'…"


	3. Chapter 3

_Before I start the story, I want to thank all the awesome people who took the time to review. Your support means a lot to me, because I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to continue this or not at first, since I wasn't getting much of a response. And, while I'm thankful for all the feedback that I got, a few reviewers made some comments I felt I should address publicly._

_First off, as far as this story being a crossover goes, I honestly don't think of it as one. While it's true that the monks are in the Pokemon universe, they are not interacting with any of the established Pokemon Characters (Ash, Misty, Ash's Pikachu…). Instead, I think of this as more of an AU, set in the Pokemon World with situations and characters completely different then those in the games, mangas or animes. Some people may argue with me on this, but this is how I view these things, and I doubt that's going to change._

_Besides, as many of you pointed out, the crossover section doesn't see a lot of action…_

_And, moving on to the next point, a reviewer by the name of _CoffeeCream101_ asked about the pairing situation, and the likelihood of that changing. I want to respond to that by saying that, above all, I'm a group/friendship oriented person in my writings. I don't have anything against any of the pairings, slash included, but I simply prefer writing friendship fics over romance ones because, to be perfectly honest, there are a lot of things about romance fics that bother me._

_The key thing though, is how nine out of ten times, the characters other then the two that make up the pairing are pushed far into the background and neglected, which cuts down on a lot of really fun interactions and makes a story dry and predictable in my opinion. And if they've not in the background, then they're a romantic rival, and their characters generally end up being butchered for the sake of the story. Don't get me wrong, I know there are pairing fics done right out there, but they're in the vast minority. And anyways, there are a million and one other pairing-based stories out there, and I don't want this one to get tossed in with those ones._

_Now to move on to the big 'but' of this rant; I'm not partial to pairings myself, but if I get a mass of reviewers who want so-and-so with whats-her-face, then I will try to subtly move the story in that direction without damaging the storyline I have planned out. Romance will never be the main focus of this story, but I don't mind playing with it every now and then to keep you guys happy._

_Thank you again to everyone who was kind enough to review. And now that I've taken up enough of you guys' time with my inane rants, we can finally move on to chapter three. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 3; Meeting of the Chosen Ones (Pt 3)**

"Okay, recap time; you're telling me that a thousand years ago, some dude named Dashi created these special gemstones in order to defeat the forces of evil; namely you. And now you wanna get your see-through hands on 'em to try and take over the world again?" Jack frowned thoughtfully as he repeated what the apparition had just finished relaying to him.

"_Precisely."_ Wuya purred in satisfaction, pleased that the boy wasn't as stupid as she first feared. As if sensing her dark thoughts, one of the boy's bizarre, shiny round pokemon floated protectively closer to its trainer, flashing a Cyclops' glare at the witch. The other two hung back nervously behind the redhead, clearly uncomfortable in her presence. Wuya eyed the creatures curiously for a moment, before dismissing them as Jack spoke up once more.

"And these Elemental Gems of yours, what do they have to do with me?" Jack asked pointedly, his curiosity outweighing any self preservation instincts he might have had.

"_In this form, I cannot use the power of the Elemental Gems."_ Wuya explained, flying through the pedestal she's been sleeping on for the past thousand years to remind the boy of her intangibility. _"However,_ you _were able to overcome the protective charms placed on the puzzle box that served as my prison for the last few centuries, which means you should also have the ability to draw out the true power of the Elemental Gems."_

"I did? I can?" Jack asked in surprise. If he really did have any sort of magical capabilities, then no one had bothered to tell him before this point.

"_Help me find all the Elemental Gems, and together we will rule the world!_" Wuya offered silkily, smirking at Jack's gleeful grin.

"Alright! That sounds good to me!" The scientist cheered as he jumped to his feet, swatting away the century old dust that clung to his clothes (The only problem with wearing all black; EVERYTHING showed up).

"Magnemite!" Bot2 protested with a shake of its head. "Magnemite! Magnemite!" Bot1 and Bot3 quickly sided with their stern companion, shooting their master pleading looks to try and convince him to change his mind.

"What are you so worried about guys, this is gold!" Jack groused at his pokemon's obvious reluctance to get on board with the witch's plot. "This is soo much easier then trying to impress the boss with a bunch of dumb rocks or lame stolen pokemon! If I can pull this off, I'll be running Team Rocket in no time flat!"

"Magnemite…" Bot1 spoke up for all three electric/steel pokemon, looking thoroughly unconvinced.

"Come on guys, have I ever steered you wrong before?" Jack demanded of his pokemon.

Somehow, the three looked even more worried after the boy's question.

"Okay look, lemme make you guys a deal; if the old hag's right, and these gemstone things do exists, and they do what she says they can, then we'll go out looking for the complete set. But if anything winds up being bogus, then we'll wash our hands of it and go back to Team Rocket for our next gig. Sound cool to you?" The three pokemon exchanged dubious looks, before Bot2 sighed and nodded its consent, making its owner let out a hearty cheer. "Great! You guys won't regret this, I swear!"

"Magnemite…" Groused a clearly skeptical Bot2, glaring once more at the smirking witch that got them into this mess as she followed its master out of the cavern to seek out the gemstones she had her beady eyes on, lamenting the headache that this mess was sure to bring it. Sighing once more, Bot2 motioned for its fellow Magnemites to follow their master as well, hoping to catch up to Jack before he realized that he still needed Bot1's _Flash_ in order to navigate through the pitch black caves ahead.

Really, the things it put up with for its master…

As the Magnemites left, they never noticed when a different pokemon phased through the rocks, watching their retreat with open curiosity. The small red pokemon was certain that it had heard voices in the cave, which would certainly have been a nice reprieve from the boring silence it had put up with for so long now. Its nosiness getting the better of it, the little ghost pokemon promptly followed the Magnemites as they made their way through the cave, the steel pokemon none the wiser to the hitchhiker they had picked up…

* * *

As the Team Rocket Scientist and the evil ghost-witch picked their way out of the networks of caves, a very different group was gathered together on a bullet train on the other side of the region, heading towards the town of Tuton on the orders of Professor Fung, all of them thoroughly exhausted after spending half an hour trying to reign in the rambunctious Dratini that Raimundo had decided to name Storm.

Apparently, the young dragon pokemon was fascinated with all the ins and outs of the human world, but didn't seem to understand things very well. A close encounter with a loud speaker had badly frightened the poor thing, who destroyed half the train station in the ensuing chaos before the Chosen Ones finally managed to corner the pokemon and allow Rai to recall him. With that done, the four trainers then beat a quick retreat onto their train, leaving Professor Fung to explain the mess to the station's manager. Generally, Omi at the very least would have felt guilty over that, but a part of him felt a bit vindictive towards his guardian, no thanks to the unwelcome surprise Fung had sprung on him in the train station.

Being a Chosen One was what made him special for years now, and Omi couldn't help but feel that was taken away from him. Besides, just as Professor Fung stated, the other three Chosen Ones would be traveling with him, at least for a while now. That didn't seem like it was going to be all that fun, given the different personalities of the group. He was already pretty sure Raimundo didn't like him, and Kimiko was apparently convinced that the boy was sickly after his little 'episode,' and continuously fussed over Omi, much to the boy's dismay. Clay didn't talk very much, so Omi couldn't really get a feel for him, but at this point he wasn't holding out much hope for a decent friendship from any of the group.

"Are you sure you're alright, Omi? Maybe you should lie down for a little bit…" Omi bit back a cringe as the female member of the Chosen Ones worried over the smallest boy in the group yet again, earning pointed snickers from Raimundo and even a discreet chuckle now and then from the large cowboy as she leaned over the train's seat to get a closer look at him. Flushing, Omi quickly dodged Kimiko's hand as she reached over to try and feel for a fever.

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Kimiko, but I feel quite well." Omi said as politely as he possibly could.

"Yeah!" Raimundo grinned wickedly, seeing the perfect opportunity to pay the boy back for his 'mediocre trainer' comment. "I'm sure the little wimp passes out all the time!" Omi winced and shrank in on himself, as Kimiko shot a threatening look at the island boy, who merely smirked back at the fiery girl.

"Lay off, will you?" She snapped before turning back to Omi with a sympathetic look. "Ignore him, Omi. It's not your fault Professor Fung didn't tell you we were Chosen Ones too. I mean, if the rest of us had been put in the same situation, we probably would've been just as surprised." Kimiko assured the boy, trying to coax him out of his embarrassment. It seemed to work, since the boy relaxed a bit at her logic. Encouraged, the girl continued, "Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned with other things right now? I mean, Professor Fung did say this was your first time leaving Xiaolin, right?" Omi's eyes widened at the girl's reminder, and he promptly scrambled for the pokeball his mentor had given him.

"That's right!" The boy said gleefully as he enlarged the pokeball. "I am finally off on my very own Pokemon Journey! With my first pokemon! Oh, I cannot wait to meet my Squirtle for the first time! I am sure it will be a most impressive starter pokemon!" And, with that declaration, Omi released the monster in a stream of red light, grinning practically ear-to-ear as a Squirtle formed on the ground in front of him. The small water pokemon blinked a couple times, apparently taken aback by the strange surroundings, but Omi paid no heed as he crouched down to introduce himself to the turtle. "Hello, my new friend! I am Omi, the trainer who will be your partner. It is very nice to meet you at last! You have noooo idea how long I've wanted to-!"

"Uh, Omi?" Clay prompted, catching the small trainer's attention. Holding back a smile, the cowboy pointed to the window, where his Squirtle was currently watching the world fly by with open fascination.

_{So fast!}_ the water pokemon exclaimed excitedly, _{I've never moved this fast before! What kind of pokemon is this?}_

"Pokemon?" Omi repeated, before realizing that the turtle thought the train was some sort of giant pokemon. "Ah! You are mistaken, my little friend! This is no pokemon. It's a-!"

"HEY!" Clay yelped in surprise when the Squirtle suddenly jumped up to grab his hat having lost interest in the window before Omi could even begin his explanation.

_{Is this a bucket?}_ The pokemon asked as he examined the ten gallon hat. _{It kinda looks like the bucket Mr. Breeder brings out food in. How strange! Why would you wear a bucket on your head? Do you just keep it there until you need it or something?}_ As he asked this, the pokemon put the hat on his own head, which was much smaller then the cowboy's. The hat swallowed him up practically down to his hands, badly startling the little Squirtle. Struggling against the hat's hold, Squirtle didn't even notice as Clay made a grab for him, which he unknowingly dodged as he attempted to remove the hat from his head, crashing into Raimundo's food tray and sending its contents flying everywhere.

"Aw man, I wasn't done with that!" Griped the dark skinned boy as Omi tried frantically to catch his pokemon before it could do any more damage while the turtle attempted to remove the hat that was blinding him.

The chase came to an end when Squirtle crashed headlong into Kimiko's legs, giving her the opportunity to pluck the protesting little pokemon off of the ground. With the pokemon finally forced to stay still, Clay quickly took the opening to snag his hat back and return it to its proper place atop his head. Squirtle struggled for a moment in Kimiko's hold, but once the realization that he could see again sank it, the pokemon settled right down. Sighing in relief that the ordeal was over with, Omi fished around for his pokeball.

"Squirtle, return!" Omi commanded as he recalled the water pokemon before it could do any more damage. Grimacing at their now trashed private compartment, Omi turned to the others with a sheepish look. "I see now why Professor Fung warned me about how energetic my pokemon is…"

"Understatement." Kimiko snorted as she helped Raimundo clean up the mess the Squirtle had made.

"Yeah well, this brat here is probably just as bad." Raimundo said, spinning Storm's pokeball at the tip of his index finger as he sat back down.

"Venus is pretty well behaved." Kimiko bragged, smiling sweetly at the sour look Raimundo sent her at the boast. "She gets motion sickness pretty easily though, so you guys'll have to wait until the train stops to meet her."

"Fung said the Bulbasaur you got is another calm one, right big dude?" Raimundo asked Clay, leaning back in his seat and stretching out his legs for more room.

"Somethin' like that." Clay said, palming his pokeball uncertainly for a moment.

"Well come on, Clay, let her out!" Kimiko encouraged the cowboy.

"Oh yes, most certainly!" Omi agreed eagerly, already anticipating meeting another pokemon. Clay couldn't help but smile at the three enthusiastic faces that were watching him with rapt attention, like a bunch of kids at Christmas waiting for their next gift.

"Well, alright then…" Clay said agreeably at last, releasing the plant pokemon. Once free, the Bulbasaur assessed the four curious humans staring at it with a mildly surprised look, cocking its head in confusion.

_{…Do I have something on my face…?}_ She asked uncertainly, feeling a bit uncomfortable under all the attention. Chuckling, Clay gave the pokemon a sheepish smile.

"Ah no, sorry!" He said, surprising the pokemon slightly. "Nice ta meetcha, partner. I'm Clay Bailey, yer new trainer."

_{Trainer…?}_ Bulbasaur repeated before brightening considerably. _{Oh, I see! You're one of the Chosen Ones, aren't you? That's how you can understand me, right?}_

"'fraid so." Clay said with a sheepish grin, making the small pokemon smile widely back.

_{Nice to meet you, Clay. I look forward to working with you.}_ the green pokemon said pleasantly.

"Wow, she's pretty polite." Raimundo observed. "Especially compared to what me and Omi got."

"You understand her?" Kimiko said in mild surprise. She felt a little out of the loop watching the Bulbasaur and Clay communicate with one another. She could kinda see now what Keiko meant when she complained about Kimiko talking to Venus…

"Poison." Raimundo reminded the girl before nodding to the Bulbasaur. "I'm Raimundo, by the way. Another Chosen One."

"And I am Omi, the greatest of the Chosen Ones!" Bragged the smallest trainer to the pokemon, causing the grass type to cast her trainer a confused look to catch him chuckling in bemusement at the younger trainer's excitement.

"Kimiko. It's nice to meet you." Kimiko smiled politely at the Bulbasaur.

"And what do you mean 'the greatest of the Chosen Ones,' Cueball? You don't know what the rest of us can do yet." Raimundo reminded Omi wryly.

"Nonetheless, I am certain that none of you could surpass me as a pokemon trainer." Omi said confidently.

"Well we'll see about that, won't we?" Kimiko interjected with a scoff, certain that she and Venus could wipe the floor with a cocky bald kid and his hyperactive Squirtle.

"What, you think you got something on the rest of us, girly?" Raimundo teased, earning a sour look from the twin tailed girl.

_{They certainly are… energetic.} _Bulbasaur whispered to Clay as the two watched the bickering between the other three grow more and more heated.

"They are, ain't they?" Clay chuckled in response before offering the pokemon an apple, which she accepted happily. Bemused, the cowboy decided that he and the pokemon would get along just fine with one another…

* * *

"Finally!" Raimundo groaned in relief as he departed from the train, taking a deep breath. He grinned back at his companions as they followed him off of the locomotive. "I love the smell of the big city. So much action, y'know?"

"Action?" Omi repeated with a confused look at Clay. "Is that why Professor Fung wished for us to come to Tuton?"

"Not exactly, lil partner." Clay grinned, mindful of the Bulbasaur happily curled up under the cowboy hat he wore.

"We're here to find Dr. Thaddeus Klofange, a pokemon historian and an old friend of the Professor's." Kimiko explained to the confused young trainer. "He works for a museum in this town. Apparently, he has some old scriptures about our powers, and we're supposed to take a look at them before we decide where to go next."

"I see!" Omi brightened. "In that case, to the museum!" with that declaration, Omi immediately charged forward, only to pause at the top of the stairwell and look back at his companions with a sheepish look. "…And precisely where is the museum where we may find Dr. Klofange?"

"Hang on, lemme check." Kimiko offered, turning on her Pokepal. Omi's eyes went wide as the tiny holographic form of Kimiko flickered to life above the watch-like device, drawing closer for a better look at the AI.

"A most fascinating contraption, Miss Kimiko!" the boy exclaimed, studying the hologram. "What is it exactly? I have never seen anything like it before!"

"It's called a Pokepal." Kimiko explained, fighting a smile at Omi's open curiosity. "Pokepal, say hi to Omi!" Turning to the small boy, the hologram created a thin line of light that scanned Omi's entire face, causing the smaller boy to jerk back in surprise.

"Processing… Processing… Facial Mapping complete. Adding to Memory Bank. Hello, Omi!"

"Hello, small computerized version of Miss Kimiko!" Omi replied, delighted that the hologram could recognize him.

"Pokepals are AIs used by trainers, to make traveling easier. There's all sorts of convenient apps and add ons you can download for them. Like this!" Turning to the hologram, Kimiko addressed the Pokepal once more. "Pokepal, GPS mode. We need to get from here to Dashi's Pokemon Museum."

"Roger! Please wait while the satellites configure the quickest route!" The Pokepal replied cheerfully, disappearing to be replaced with a 'Please Wait' message that lasted for about five seconds before being replaced with a holographic map pinpointing their location, with a red path that led them to the museum.

"Ooooh!" Omi awed, cautiously poking a finger through the map, then pulling back to find the hologram unharmed. "A most impressive device!"

"Yeah, Pokepals definitely come in handy." Kimiko chuckled before taking the lead. "Anyways, the museum's this way. It's a twenty minute walk, so-"

"Wait, we're going straight there?" Raimundo said in alarm. "But we just got here! Let's at least stop for a bite or something before we go to see the old dude."

"You ate on the train!" Kimiko reminded the boy with an air of frustration. "We need to keep moving so we can get this over with and get on the road, right guys?" Turning to Omi and Clay for support, Kimiko found herself met with a matching pair of sheepish smiles.

"Well, actually… I could go fer a bite of somethin' myself…" Clay admitted to the increasingly dismayed girl.

"And perhaps lunch will prove beneficial in the long run?" Omi added, one hand over his growling stomach. Sighing heavily, Kimiko buried her head in her hands.

_Boys…_

"Alright, fine. A quick bite to eat at a hot dog stand or something, and then we'll head to the museum." Kimiko consented grudgingly, turning to lead the boys into the city.

"Bossy little thing, isn't she?" Raimundo grumbled to Clay, who quickly transformed his laugh into a cough when Kimiko snarled back an "I heard that!"

"I had no idea that there were so many convenient tools for trainers to partake in." Omi confessed to Clay as the boys fell in behind Kimiko, ignoring the way Raimundo taunted the girl in hopes of getting her riled up. "Do many trainers possess Pokepals like Miss Kimiko's?"

"Nah, Pokepals cost a right pretty penny, so only a handful of people got 'em." Clay assured the boy lightly, watching Raimundo laugh at something while Kimiko snarled out profanities at him. "My guess is the little lady got hers as a present. Or she blew a lifetime's allowance on one."

"I see…" Omi hummed thoughtfully. "And what are the capabilities of a Pokepal, other then providing trainers with a convenient map when they find themselves lost?"

"Dunno. You'd hafta ask Kimiko, she seems ta know Pokepals pretty well." Clay scratched his chin thoughtfully before raising an eyebrow at the young trainer. "Why you so interested in that Pokepal, anyways? Ya don't exactly seem like the tech savvy type there, Omi." The smaller boy shot his companion a sheepish grin at the accusation.

"I wish to know everything about pokemon." Omi confessed eagerly. "I've memorized facts, read every credible book in the pokemon world I can find, and always seek new ways to better myself! After all, that is how one becomes a great pokemon trainer!"

"Known' stuff is always good, Omi, but facts and books don't give ya what ya need ta be a good trainer." Clay chuckled warmly. "That takes a little somethin' more."

"Something more?" Omi repeated, giving the boy his full attention. "Professor Fung has told me the same thing many times before. What is this 'something more' that you're referring to?"

"Sorry, Omi, but that's somethin' ya gotta figure out fer yerself." Clay told the boy kindly before hastily stepping forward to interject himself into Kimiko and Raimundo's argument over where they would eat, since a nearby manhole cover was starting to rattle in a very menacing sort of way. Omi watched him go with a puzzled frown and no clue as to what the cowboy was referring to.

* * *

Despite being the single most disgusting thing she had ever laid eyes on, Kimiko couldn't bring herself to look away.

"I think its breathing." Omi was the only one of the boys to look up at Kimiko's cautious declaration, eyeing her food with open skeptism as she poked it with her fork a few more times.

"I do not believe so, Miss Kimiko, but you may wish to poke it harder, just in case." The boy finally offered helpfully before turning back to his own meal.

Kimiko twitched at the suggestion.

"What possessed you two to choose this place, anyways?" Kimiko snapped at Clay and Raimundo as she cast a baleful eye at the grimey, greasy restaurant they were currently enjoying a meal at (if one used the term 'enjoying' loosely…).

"Come on, Kimiko, it ain't as bad as it looks." Clay coaxed the girl with a smile.

"Yeah, these kinda of places are actually pretty good from time to time." Raimundo added his two cents as well. "Lighten up a bit, Princess." Kimiko sniffed a bit at the islander's accusation, before freezing when the action sank in and dropping into her seat with a groan.

_I knew it. Haughty rich kid attitude_ is _contagious._ The girl bemoaned, feeling even more unclean then she did upon walking into the restaurant.

"Miss Kimiko?" Omi said, puzzled at the girl's actions. Sighing, Kimiko gestured that she was okay, sitting up again with a delicate frown at her plate.

"It hasn't killed anyone yet, Kim." Raimundo pointed out to the girl with a wry grin.

"Fine then." Kimiko said grudgingly picking up her fork again to separate some of the food-like substance from the large clump. Bringing it to her mouth, Kimiko hesitated for a moment, which didn't go unnoticed by the increasingly amused Clay and Raimundo. Glaring at the two defiantly, Kimiko took the plunge and swallowed her forkful of food, her face transforming from an expression of trepidation to a look of surprise.

"See? I told you it wasn't half bad." Raimundo said smugly.

"Okay, fine. You win. Happy?" Kimiko rolled her eyes as she took another dainty bite of her food.

"Getting there." Raimundo smirked back, blinking as Kimiko pulled out her pokeball. "What are you doing?"

"Letting Venus out." Kimiko answered, releasing her Charmander. "She needs to eat too, after all." Perking up, Omi crawled over the girl for a closer look at the pokemon.

"That's right!" The small boy exclaimed. "Professor Fung said that you have possessed a pokemon for longer then the rest of us, correct Miss Kimiko?"

"Yeah, that's right." Kimiko said, raising a bemused eyebrow at the boy who was now pretty much in her lap. Normally, a strange boy would find himself in intensive care for touching her in such a familiar way, but Kimiko felt a bit more lenient with the small, excitable boy. He was kinda like a weird little brother who was unintentionally adorable. "My mom's Charizard has eggs every now and then. Usually, we give them to breeders so that the Charmanders can be raised up as starter pokemon, but I got really attached to Venus' egg, so dad let me take care of her. She hatched when I was seven, and we've been together ever since." Turning to the pokemon with a grin, Kimiko added. "Venus, meet the other Chosen Ones! The big guy's named Clay, and that's Raimundo next to him. The one who doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'personal space' is Omi."

"Nice ta meetcha!" Clay tipped his hat at the Charmander as Omi sheepishly snuck back to his own side of the bench.

"'Sup?" Raimundo added around a mouthful of food, making Kimiko cringe in disgust.

"It is quite joyful to finally meet you, Venus the Charmander!" Omi said happily. "Kimiko has said many wonderful things about you!"

_{It's nice to meet you three as well.}_ Venus said, clearly amused at the colorful personalities the boy had. Giggling, Venus added. _{They're not quite what we were expecting, are they Kimi?}_

"Too true." Kimiko said with a wry smile at the confused looks she got from the three boys, who didn't know what the fire pokemon had said. "Anyways, you hungry, Venus? We were just having a bite before we head out to Dashi's Pokemon Museum."

_{Doesn't your father own that place?}_ Venus asked mildly as Kimiko dug through her bag for the pokemon's food. Kimiko shot the fire pokemon a warning look, making Venus roll her eyes. _{They can't understand me, Kimi.}_

"Venus…" Kimiko growled back.

_{Alright, alright. I won't mention Mr. Tohomiko anymore Kimi, promise.}_ Venus said, shaking her head in exasperation.

"Better not." Kimiko groused.

"Uh, what was that about?" Raimundo voiced the question all three of the mystified boys were wondering throughout the conversation.

"Nothing. It's personal." Kimiko said dismissively as she finally fished out a plate and a container of Venus' favorite food.

"Riiiight…" Clay drawled, clearly unconvinced.

"Really guys, it's nothing." Kimiko reassured the boys as she served her pokemon. "You guys wanna feed your pokemon, too? I got extra, and it'll save us a trip to the Pokemon Center. Besides, they should get to know each other, right?"

"That's a good idea." Clay agreed readily, letting his Bulbasaur out next to Venus as Kimiko fished out more plates, relieved that the boys bought her distraction. Shrugging, Raimundo freed his Dratini as well, and after a moment's hesitation Omi finally released his Squirtle to complete the group.

_{Hello!}_ Venus said sweetly to the other pokemon. _{So you'll be traveling with us as well, huh? I'm Venus! It's nice to meet you! Please take care of me and Kimi!}_

_{New friends?}_ Squirtle said, brightening considerably. Grabbing the startled fire pokemon, the turtle brought her in for a bear hug as he let out a loud cheer. _{I love to make new friends!}_ Squeaking, the Charmander struggled to free herself from the Squirtle's grip, but the task was apparently much harder then it looked. Shaking her head, Bulbasaur used her vines to lift the fire pokemon out of Squirtle's hold, making the water pokemon cry out in dismay.

_{Enough.}_ Bulbasaur told Squirtle sternly as she set Venus back down. _{You're going to hurt someone, acting like that. It's no way to treat someone you consider a friend.}_ Pouting, the water pokemon complied, and Venus shot Bulbasaur a grateful look. Storm was less interested in the other three pokemon, instead turning his attention to the tempting plate Kimiko had set down for her pokemon.

_{Food?}_ The Dratini said brightly as he sniffed the high quality pokechow.

"Hey, that's not yours!" Raimundo scolded, snatching the Dragon Pokemon up before it could start eating. Storm whined loudly as he tried to free himself, getting a giggle from Kimiko.

"I guess all boys really do think with their stomachs, huh?" She teased before setting down a plate for the dragon type. "Here. Eat up, okay?" Happily, the Dratini obliged to the girl's orders, earning an exasperated head shake from Raimundo.

"Well, at least it don't look like we gotta worry 'bout 'em fightin or nothin'." Clay chuckled as Kimiko prepared a third plate for Squirtle.

"Yes, it is most reassuring that our pokemon can befriend one another!" Omi said happily, hesitating a moment before taking the plunge. "Perhaps we should take this time to learn more about one another, so we may become friends as well?" Stopping, all three of the older trainers turned to look at Omi for a moment, surprised looks on their faces.

"What do you want to know?" Kimiko ventured cautiously as she filled one last plate and gave Bulbasaur her food. The kid was sweet and all, but she was NOT gonna blow her cover for him.

"Anything. Everything!" Omi insisted. Clay chuckled at the trainer's enthusiasm.

"Well, maybe we should just start off with the little things first, partner. Like where we're from, and our powers and stuff." The cowboy suggested.

"Oh most certainly, Clay!" Omi agreed readily. "I will go first! I am-!"

"We already know you've been in Xiaolin your whole life, cueball." Raimundo interjected dryly, grunting in pain when this earned him a kick under the table from Kimiko.

"Let the kid talk." The blue eyed girl said with a glare before smiling encouragingly at Omi. "Go ahead, Omi."

"Thank you, Miss Kimiko." Omi said, clearing his throat. "While it is true that I am a resident of Xiaolin, it is believed that I was actually born in the Sinnoh region, according to what I've heard from Professor Fung and Dojo."

"Sinnoh?" Clay whistled appreciatively. "That's quite a trip there, partner. How'd you end up at the Academy?"

"I am not completely sure, to be honest." Omi admitted, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "My parents have been missing since I was an infant. No one knows what has become of them, so Professor Fung took me in and raised me. I hope to someday return to Sinnoh to find out more about my origin, and my missing family." An awkward silence enveloped the group after Omi's confession, the three trainers looking at one another for some kind of indication of what they should say to the small trainer. Finally, Raimundo worked up the courage to break it.

"So, what kinda power are you bringing to the table?" the island boy ventured. "I mean, you got water and ice and stuff, right? So what, can you freeze stuff with a touch or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that." Omi said cheerfully, hopping down to the floor and crouching down. When he straightened back up, he lifted the heavy bench he had occupied- startled Kimiko and all- over his head with just one hand. "My current power comes from my affiliation with fighting types, as you can see. I have enormous physical strength and stamina, and a talent for any sort of physical confrontation." Raimundo whistled at the boy's show, clearly impressed despite his earlier taunts, and Clay looked equally awed at the display. Kimiko, on the other hand, was far less thrilled.

"Great. Think you can put me down now, Omi?" The girl said through gritted teeth.

"Of course, Miss Kimiko!" Omi said cheerfully, dropping the bench back into its former position and climbing back onto it.

_{He's not exactly normal, is he?}_ Venus observed as Kimiko reeled at the sudden landing, earning an exasperated nod from Bulbasaur.

_{None of them are, to be honest.}_ The grass pokemon said wryly, earning a giggle from the Charmander.

"Right then." Clay drawled, shaking his head. "I'm from Pewter myself. Born 'n raised on a Pokemon Ranch just outside the city. Pa and I were part of the watch group that protected the town from rogue pokemon, so I got some experience with pokemon already. My dominant element right now's grass, so I got a right impressive green thumb, and can get the plants ta talk to me, and do what I want em to."

"Talking to plants?" Raimundo repeated with a snort. "Sounds to me like you got jipped."

"Nah, it's more useful then you'd think actually." Clay said, unoffended by the dark boy's comment. Kimiko agreed with the Islander's opinion, but refrained from commenting.

"What about you, Rai?" She said instead, hoping to put of her own intro for as long as possible.

"I'm from the Orange Islands. I was born on Valencia, but my family's part of a pokemon circus, so we've bounced pretty much all over Kanto, and some parts of Johto." Raimundo bragged with a smirk. "And as for my power… well…" Three sets of eyes widened in union as Raimundo suddenly vanished from sight. Before anyone could think to do anything, though, a hand clamped down on Kimiko's shoulder. "BOO!" Shrieking, the girl jumped almost to the ceiling, whirling around to glare death at Raimundo as he rolled around on the floor in laugher.

"Don't DO that!" Kimiko snapped at the brunette, half tempted to kill him when this just made him laugh louder.

"I take it yer power comes from Ghosts, then?" Clay said dryly, raising an eyebrow as Kimiko grumbled 'Should've known…' under her breath.

"Yeah, it really comes in handy too." Raimundo chuckled as he dropped back down into his seat. "You have no idea how great it is to literally be able to disappear whenever you want. I haven't done a single chore in over five years."

"Lovely." Kimiko said sarcastically, still sore over the boy's earlier prank.

"What about you, Kimiko? What kind of power do you possess?" Omi asked eagerly, clearly enjoying this conversation.

"Psychic." Kimiko answered with a small smile at the bald trainer. "It's a total pain, though. I can't really control it at all."

"That why ya popped up outta thin air earlier?" Clay said, bemused.

"Yeah, that's right." Kimiko nodded. "My powers pretty much work on instinct and subconscious. Whenever I'm scared or in danger, it'll teleport me someplace that it deems safe. Earlier was the result of an out of control cart trying to kill me."

"Is what all your powers can do?" Omi asked, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Nah, I can do other things, too. Weird prophetic dreams, accidentally making stuff float, blowing stuff up when I'm mad, hearing thoughts…"

"You hear thoughts?" Raimundo repeated, startled. The rest of the stuff Kimiko said didn't bother him too much, except maybe that 'blowing stuff up' thing, but having someone poke around in his head was just about the last thing Raimundo wanted.

"Not all the time." Kimiko admitted with a thoughtful frown. "Hardly ever, actually. Just once in a while with Keiko. Professor Fung says it has something to do with me being in sync with the other person, but I don't really get it."

"Sounds like a headache." Clay said sympathetically.

"Yeah, and the Professor is almost no help. 'Control over your powers will come in time.' Ha!" Kimiko grumbled as she stabbed viciously at her food.

"Where you from, anyways?" Raimundo asked, realizing that the girl had skipped that part of her introduction.

"Saffron." Kimiko answered with a sigh.

"Don't they have a Psychic Gym there? Couldn't they have helped you?" Raimundo pointed out.

"Yeah, that's actually why my dad and I moved there when I was a kid. I've been banned from there for the past six years, though." Kimiko groused, forcing herself not to blush when the boys stared at her, flabbergasted.

"What did you do ta get yerself banned?" Clay asked in bewilderment.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Kimiko said shortly as Venus giggled quietly next to her.

"Guess that means me and short stuff here are the only ones with powers we can rely on, huh?" Raimundo snickered.

"And pokemon you can't." Kimiko pointed out in an exaggeratedly sweet tone.

"Ah, you're just jealous Fung gave me the Dratini instead of you." Raimundo smirked at the girl, who rolled her eyes and gave the boy an unimpressed look.

"Hardly." She said dryly. "Don't get me wrong, Dratini are cool and all, but I'm only interested in fire pokemon, and I don't plan to waste my time with anything else."

"Right, suuuure. Just keep telling yourself that, Kim." Raimundo snickered.

_Kim?_ Kimiko thought, a bit taken aback. Venus always called her Kimi, but other then that she was always either Miss Kimiko or Miss Tohomiko to nearly everyone she knew.

"You just don't wanna admit that I've got the better pokemon. I mean, dragon types are awesome, and everyone knows it!"

"I disagree, Raimundo." Omi interjected with a haughty sniff. "While it is true that Dragon types are impressive, it is the abilities of the trainer who will ultimately decide the tide of the battle, not the pokemon's type. I, being a much more accomplished trainer then you, and my vastly superior Squirtle will ultimately prove to be the greatest match up here, I can guarantee it!"

"Yeah yeah, keep talkin', cueball."

"Hey guys?" Kimiko broke in with a coy smile. "Not to interrupt your little testosterone feud, but shouldn't you be keeping an eye on your 'Awesome Dratini' and 'Superior Squirtle?' I think they both just wandered into the kitchen." Blinking in union, Omi and Raimundo turned to find their pokemon were indeed missing from the little gathering by their table, leaving only an amused Charmander and an exasperated Bulbasaur. Crying out in alarm, Raimundo and Omi both bolted for the kitchen, just as a series of loud crashing noises erupted from the room followed by vicious curses from the cook. Shaking his head, Clay gave Kimiko a playful smile as the girl fought to control her laughter.

"Wanna sneak out and stick the two of 'em with the bill?" Clay drawled to the dark haired girl, who grinned in response.

"You read my mind." She said, gathering her things as Clay left to inform the waitress that Raimundo and Omi would cover the meal's tab. Bulbasaur obediently followed her master, while Venus giggled and fell in after her hotheaded trainer.

_{You know, Kimi, they may not be anything like what we were expecting, but I think I'm going to like these guys.}_ The fire pokemon said coyly to her trainer, prompting Kimiko to shake her head in exasperation as she and Clay happily left their companions to their 'surprise.'

An army of angry Gyarados couldn't have forced the girl to admit that she agreed with her pokemon.

* * *

"Ooooh! A most impressive building!" Omi gaped, craning his neck back as far as he could to try and take in all of Dashi's Pokemon Museum. His voice echoed loudly in the entrance hall, earning him an irritated look from a nearby receptionist. "I had no idea there were places larger then the Xiaolin Academy!"

"Yeah, you'll be seein' a lot of places like that, Partner" Clay chuckled until he spotted the woman glaring at them.

"So, where's this Klofang dude, anyways?" Raimundo asked, looking around to try and find the man they were sent here to see.

"Dunno. Hang on, lemme ask." Kimiko said, heading over to the receptionist before Clay could stop her. "Excuse me, Ma'am? Do you know where-?"

"If you want to buy a museum ticket, then ask the man over there. Otherwise, you and your little study group are going to need to clear out of my lobby immediately." The receptionist cut her off curtly. Kimiko looked startled for a moment, before frowning at the woman in annoyance.

"Actually, that's not what I-!"

"Look kid, we're very busy today preparing for some sort of important guests, so I don't have time to sit around and play twenty questions with you. Either buy a ticket and get out of my face or leave and loiter around someplace else." The woman snapped at the girl before turning back to her computer as a sign of dismissal.

'CRACK!' Jumping, all three boys whirled around to see that large cracks had erupted out of nowhere on the bulletproof glass frames protecting a series of nearby paintings. Their attention didn't stay trained on the glass long, though, when Kimiko brought it back to the front desk by slamming her hands loudly on the marble receptionist counter.

"Listen you stuck up little witch! I don't know where you get off treating us like a bunch of snot nosed brats, but if you don't shut up and LISTEN to me I will make the rest of your life very, VERY miserable! Do you understand me?" The woman looked shocked for a moment before an indignant look crossed her face and she stood up to glare the smaller girl down.

"Excuse me? I have no idea where a child your age got such a god arrogant attitude, but I'll have you know that that is NO way to talk to an adult! Really, didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"Mrs. Dawson? What on earth is all this yelling out here abou-!" Turning, the four young trainers and the angry receptionist found themselves faced with a baffled looking man in a business suit emerging from his office. The man's confusion quickly turned to surprise though, when he laid eyes on the girl raising hell in his lobby. "Miss Toho-Uuurk!"

Grabbing the man by his tie, Kimiko hastily hauled him back into his office before he could blow her cover, slamming the door behind them and leaving her companions and the receptionist to stare after them, dumbfounded.

"Mr. Hiyashi? What are you doing here?" Kimiko demanded once she released her hold on the man. Mr. Hiyashi chocked and sputtered for a few minutes, before finally finding the breath to answer the girl's question.

"Your father gave me the position of director of this museum last week, when the old one retired. My mother lives in this town, and she hasn't been doing well, so I wanted to be closer to look after her. What are _you_ doing here, Miss Tohomiko?"

"Well, you see, I'm kinda here with those guys out there to see a Dr. Klofang that's supposed to work here." Kimiko admitted to the man, who frowned at her explanation.

"Thaddeus?" Mr. Hiyashi clarified, sighing in a disapproving sort of way. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Miss Tohomiko, but Thaddeus isn't here right now. He got all excited about some big find in the Johto region this morning and booked the first flight there before I even arrived at the museum. It's quite irritating, actually, since he was supposed to meet with the Chosen Ones today before they officially begin their journey."

"What?" Kimiko said, startled. "But he was supposed to show us some kinda old scriptures about our powers! We're not allowed to head off until we see them!" Mr. Hiyashi stared at the girl for a moment, until her words sank in and hit him full force.

"Miss Tohomiko, are you saying you're a Chosen One?" Mr. Hiyashi said in alarm.

"Did I forget to mention that before?" Kimiko said, smiling meekly at her father's employee.

"Yes, I'm afraid you did." Mr. Hiyashi shot back dryly in return, giving the girl a pointed glare before sighing in defeat. "It does explain a few things, though… But to be honest, I'm surprised that Mr. Sotomura let you go off on your own."

"Habiki didn't like it, but he really didn't have a choice." Kimiko explained, shrugging. "I mean, it's not like he can argue much when people are waving a two thousand year old prophecy in his face."

"True." Mr. Hiyashi agreed with a chuckle.

"Anyways, do you have any clue when Dr. Klofang will be back?" Kimiko asked, hoping against hope that the man wouldn't be gone long.

"No clue. We haven't been able to get a hold of him." Mr. Hiyashi admitted, watching the girl slump in clear disappointment. He considered tormenting Kimiko a bit, to get back at her for the bomb she'd just dropped on him, but ultimately decided that toying around with the boss's only daughter was some kind of corporate no-no. "…but I suppose I can take you back there myself to see Dashi's Scroll"

"Really?" Kimiko's attitude did a complete 180 at that, and she threw her arms around the man in barely contained glee. "Thanks, Mr. Hiyashi, you're the best!"

"Anything for the boss's favorite daughter." Mr. Hiyashi chuckled. To his surprise, the girl froze at that.

"Um… yeah, about that… could you not mention me being the daughter of the man in charge of Tohomiko Inc. in front of the guys? I haven't exactly figured out the best way to break that to them yet…" Kimiko said carefully. She couldn't risk Hiyashi blowing her cover, after all.

"Well, I suppose that's alright…" Hiyashi said, looking a little startled at the request.

"Thanks, Hiyashi!" Kimiko grinned. "I'll make this up to you, I swear!" and with that, the girl bounced out of the office and back to her three very confused teammates.

* * *

"Thank you for allowing us access to Dashi's Scroll, Mr. Hiyashi! It is most unfortunate that Dr. Klofang is not here to guide us in your stead."

"That's alright, young one, I need to get out of the office more, anyways." Mr. Hiyashi chuckled as he smiled at Omi, who beamed back happily before turning to the others.

"It is mooost lucky that a friend of Kimiko's uncle's college roommate is in charge of this facility. Otherwise we would be down the lake without a canoe!"

"I think you mean 'up the river without a paddle." Raimundo corrected the boy, looking between the older man and the sole female chosen one. Something was definitely fishy about the girl, but he couldn't put his finger on what. Clay seemed to think so too, if the curious looks he'd give Kimiko now and then were anything to go by.

"Is that not what I said?" Omi asked Raimundo, baffled. The brunette buried his head in his hands as Kimiko giggled and Clay shook his head in bemusement. He could already feel this kid giving him a migraine…

"Here we are, kids." Mr. Hiyashi interjected, stepping aside to let the young Chosen Ones into the room he'd just opened up for them. "Dashi's Scroll."

Omi practically teleported across the room to stand glittery-eyed in front of the scroll, while the other three followed at a more leisurely pace. Still, Raimundo couldn't contain his curiosity when he got to the table, and leaned over to study the worn parchment, which eloquently presented the boy with…

"…Scribbles." Raimundo concluded dryly, shooting Mr. Hiyashi an incredulous look. "You led us down here to look at scribbles?"

"These are no mere scribbles, Raimundo!" Omi said, sounding affronted. "These are scribbles of the Pokemon Master Dashi, one of the greatest heroes to ever live! "

"They're not scribbles." Mr. Hiyashi sighed irritably. "It's written in Shengon, the language of the upperclass for nearly a thousand years, which died out around two hundred years ago."

"Okaaay, so we gotta scroll here none of us can read, then?" Raimundo clarified, rolling his eyes. How helpful.

"I can read it." Blinking at the stereo reply, both Omi and Raimundo turned to look at Clay and Kimiko, who were looking at each other in surprise.

"You read Shengon, too?" Kimiko said, raising an eyebrow at Clay.

"Archeology and history are big hobbies of mine, so I learned some of the language ta better understand summa the stuff I studied." Clay explained. "How 'bout you?"

"It was part of my grandmother's 'useless things that supposedly make a woman more attractive to the opposite sex' course she's been feeding me since I was in diapers." Kimiko explained, wrinkling her nose. "I can't believe it's actually coming in handy now, though."

"Can you understand what the scroll says?" Omi asked excitedly before Raimundo could ask the girl how dead languages were supposed to make anyone more attractive. "What does it say? Tell me!"

"Well, Dashi's got a funny way of writin', but I think I can make it out." Clay confirmed before turning to the girl. "How 'bout you, Kimiko?"

"Yeah, his handwriting's pretty legible, even if his phrasing is a little weird." Kimiko said, frowning curiously at the scroll. "And there's an odd poem at the beginning, too. _Leap forth Dragon Children unto thy fate/Lest evil awakens to spread wicked hate/That undone shall do once again/To bind the legends and make slaves of men/Honor, Peace, Passion and Life/Must join together to end witch's strife/Take heed though, young ones of legends unknown/For the future you seek is not set in stone_."

"Wait, is that talking about us?" Raimundo asked, looking at Mr. Hiyashi.

"We believe so." Mr. Hiyashi nodded. "'Dragon Children' was a name given to the Chosen Ones by Dashi, since the Chosen Ones were said to 'Balance the Elements, but Share hold of Dragon.'"

"So in a nutshell, we all have four of the Pokemon Elements under our control, and then all of us got Dragon as a fifth element." Raimundo translated. "So what's the rest of the poem about? All that stuff about evil and slaves and stuff sounds like a major downer."

"It could be a reference to Wuya, could it not?" Omi said cautiously.

"That's what most scholars thing as well." Mr. Hiyashi sighed.

"Wuya?" Kimiko repeated, looking curiously at Omi.

"A Pokemon Witch alive at the same time as Dashi." Clay explained for the bald kid. "She was said to be the most evil creature to ever exist. Sold her soul for immortality and mastered dark magic that gave her control over Ghost Pokemon. With her army of the undead, she went on to fashion herself as Queen of the World, and even captured the four legendary Golems to do her bidding."

"Wow, so how'd they do away with her?" Raimundo asked, not noticing how Kimiko had gone unnaturally still during Clay's little history lesson.

"Dashi defeated her." Omi said boastfully. "With the help of a Rayquaza he befriended on his journey, he was able to separate Wuya's body from her soul, sealing them both away with powerful magic at different locations which no one has been able to discover. After that, Dashi seemed to disappear, and the world was left at peace once more."

"And what would a thousand year old witch have to do with us, exactly?" Raimundo asked doubtfully.

"No one knows." Mr. Hiyashi admitted. "It might not have anything to do with her at all. However, what we do know is that a great evil is supposed to rise forth in your four's lifetime, and that your powers are supposed to protect us from it. For that reason, you four must travel the world, answering any call for help that you may hear and preparing yourself and your teams of pokemon for the decisive battle that will someday take place."

"No pressure, then." Raimundo grinned wryly.

"Dashi's Scroll contains detailed instructions for exercises that will help you control your powers, and locations he recommends you four visit. For that reason, the museum is lending you the scroll, until you've gained full control of your powers and no longer need its help." Mr. Hiyashi continued, earning confused frowns from Kimiko and Clay.

"I don't see any instructions, Mr. Hiyashi." Kimiko pointed out, scanning the scroll for anything that might help her with her wayward psychic abilities.

"Me neither." Clay admitted, looking to the older man for clarification and getting even more confused when Hiyashi smiled at them mysteriously.

"Omi, could you do me a favor and touch the scroll, please?" Mr. Hiyashi asked the small trainer closest to the artifact. Omi hesitated a moment, afraid of causing damage to something so precious, before carefully reaching out and placing his index finger on the sturdy parchment.

As soon as his finger brushed the surface of the paper, the words began to swirl around on the parchment, as if caught in a whirlwind, rearranging themselves into something else entirely.

"To master fightin' type, a strong sense of focus and discipline are absolutely key." Clay read out loud as he leaned over Omi for a better look at the scroll. "Strength, while good for pushin' others around, is no substitute fer skill, as any fightin' pokemon worth their keep can tell ya. Therefore, use the followin' exercise to learn better control and gain leverage over yer powers."

"Oh, now that's way cool!" Raimundo exclaimed, grinning as he pushed at Omi to try and get to the scroll. "Come on, kid, don't hog it! I'm next!"

"But I'm not finished!" Omi protested, shoving back and sending Raimundo flying across the room and through a wall (Though to be fair, Raimundo phased through the wall rather then being driven through it). "Clay has yet to explained the exercise I must partake in to master my power!"

"Explain later! I wanna learn more about how I can unlock my flying abilities!" Raimundo groused as he suddenly reappeared in front of Omi, grabbing the scroll so that both of them were at each end. Mr. Hiyashi flitted between the two nervously as an impromptu tug-o-war broke out between the Chosen Ones.

"Boys, please!" The man wailed in distress. "Dashi's scroll is very old and delicate! If it were to be damaged-!"

SMACK! BASH!

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Kimiko snarled at Raimundo and Omi, as the two fought against the stars that now dominated their vision, hands automatically going up to nurse the rising bumps on their heads, courtesy one highly impatient female Chosen One.

"I'm thinkin' maybe Kimiko 'n I should be in charge of the scroll, guys." Clay drawled as he rolled the parchment up and stored it in the solid tube that served as its container.

"Thank you, Clay." Mr. Hiyashi said, relief clear on his face as Clay handed the container off to Kimiko to put into her backpack. The girl was about to do just that, when suddenly the scroll started to shake violently in her hands, making her jump in surprise.

Without any warning, the scroll burst out of the container, unraveling itself and floating midair as the words wiped away completely, and a picture formed with a small paragraph of text underneath. Stunned, the four Chosen Ones stared at the floating scroll as Mr. Hiyashi babbled almost incoherently in the background.

"How- What the- Why- But- Never in my life-!"

Slowly coming out of her shock, Kimiko's eyes ghosted over the picture of an oddly shaped stone shooting off animated lightning, and moved down to the words at the bottom of the scroll, her eyebrows furrowing together as she started to read.

"…The Gem of Lightning…?"


End file.
